MCLC: China/Taiwan talks

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: kirk (denton.2 at osu.edu)
Subject: China/Taiwan talks
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Source: NYT (2/11/14):
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/world/asia/china-and-taiwan-hold-first-of
ficial-talks-since-civil-war.html

China and Taiwan Hold First Official Talks Since Civil War
By AUSTIN RAMZY

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Representatives of Taiwan and China held their first
official talks Tuesday since the end of China’s civil war in 1949, a
meeting expected to produce few concrete results but one that marked a
symbolic development in the easing of the two sides’ longtime rivalry.

The setting was a resort hotel in the Chinese city of Nanjing, which was
at times the capital of Chiang Kai-shek’s Republic of China before its
government fled to Taiwan after being defeated by Mao Zedong’s Communist
forces.

“Before today’s meeting, it was hard to imagine that cross-strait
relations could get to this point,” said Wang Yu-chi, head of Taiwan’s
Mainland Affairs Council.

The improved ties were “hard earned through efforts of generations,” said
Zhang Zhijun, head of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, according to the
state-run Xinhua news service. “We should cherish it and work together to
maintain this favorable momentum.”

China considers Taiwan to be a part of its territory that must eventually
be reunited. It has reacted angrily in the past to steps seen as moving
the self-governed island toward formal independence.

In 1995 and 1996, it fired missiles into waters around Taiwan ahead of its
first democratic presidential election, and it regularly denounced Chen
Shui-bian, Taiwan’s independent-leaning president from 2000 to 2008.

Following the 2008 election of President Ma Ying-jeou, who favors closer
ties with the mainland, Beijing has taken a more conciliatory approach.
Cross-strait trade has nearly doubled over the course of Mr. Ma’s
presidency, reaching $197 billion last year. Nearly three million Chinese
traveled to Taiwan last year, constituting the largest single group of
visitors following Taiwan’s easing of restrictions on mainland arrivals
starting in 2008.

The two sides signed a landmark trade agreement, the Economic Cooperation
Framework Agreement, in 2010. Those negotiations were carried out by
semiofficial bodies: Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation and China’s
Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.

A follow-up agreement to the trade accord that lifts barriers on
cross-strait trade in services has been held up in Taiwan’s legislature as
it debates possible effects on Taiwanese companies.

Until now, representatives of China and Taiwan have met only through
unofficial organizations or through retired officials, as Beijing has
resisted any steps that might be seen as recognizing Taiwan’s sovereignty.

Tuesday’s talks focused on ways to improve and formalize communications
between the two sides. The two sides discussed trade and Taiwan’s
participation in regional economic agreements.

Mr. Wang also raised consular-type visits to Taiwanese detained on the
mainland, health insurance for Taiwanese students studying in China and
fair treatment of Taiwanese journalists working there, the Mainland
Affairs Council said.

He also planned to research the concerns of Taiwanese working in China.
The final day of his trip, Friday, will include a visit to a school for
Taiwanese students in Shanghai.

While few breakthroughs are expected, the symbolism of the talks was
considered noteworthy.

“They haven’t talked to each other on this level for 60 years,” said
Jonathan Sullivan, a China specialist at the University of Nottingham.
“The symbolic significance is there.”

If the two sides can reach an understanding on communication channels,
such as establishing representative offices on each other’s soil, then the
talks will have a practical importance as well, he said.

“The fact that they’re willing to come together and talk like this
demonstrates significant good will and sets a precedent for how the two
sides will interact in the future,” said Mr. Sullivan.

During an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting in Bali last year,
President Xi Jinping of China said that a resolution to the political
impasse between Taiwan and China could not be postponed indefinitely, a
signal that he intended to take a more active approach to cross-strait
relations than his predecessors.

The remaining two years of Mr. Ma’s second and final term as Taiwan’s
president offer a short window for Beijing to try to forge closer ties.
Mr. Ma’s approval rating has dipped as low as 9 percent over the last year
amid concerns about Taiwan’s slow rate of economic growth and a series of
missteps, including a failed attempt to force out the legislative speaker.

That could hurt future presidential candidates from Mr. Ma’s Kuomintang,
or Nationalist Party, and bolster the electoral hopes of the opposition
Democratic Progressive Party.

Beijing “knows that Ma is pro-China,” said Mr. Sullivan. “It doesn’t know
what the next president will be like because the election is two years
away.”

The Chinese government may want to use the current window “to try and
institutionalize some contact mechanisms and lock in future political
leaders in Taiwan,” he said.

While tensions have eased somewhat in recent years, concerns about a
closer relationship with China are widespread in Taiwan, said Tung
Chen-yuan, an expert on cross-strait relations at National Chengchi
University in Taipei.

“Over the last five years, the Chinese government has made a lot of
efforts to reverse this kind of trend in Taiwan, but they’ve been in
vain,” Mr. Tung said. “They are anxious. They do not understand. And
furthermore, if they would like to resolve the conflict between Taiwan and
China, then they need to touch upon some critical issues such as reducing
the possibility of military confrontation between Taiwan and mainland
China.”

For now, a discussion of such topics is unlikely. Ahead of his departure,
Mr. Wang cautioned that expectations for the trip should be low.

“I don’t want to be overambitious,” he told reporters in Taipei. “If we
just focus on how the Taiwan Affairs Office and the Mainland Affairs
Council can in the future promote smoother cross-strait affairs, that’s
good. You don’t want to overanalyze it.”

Even as the two sides spoke of closer ties, some developments revealed how
many differences remain. China prevented Taipei-based reporters from Apple
Daily, an aggressive tabloid newspaper, and Radio Free Asia, a
broadcasting service that receives United States government financing,
from attending the meeting. While China maintains strict controls on
domestic and foreign journalists, Taiwan is known for its aggressive media
outlets.