Ma should proceed based on Taiwan’s realistic demands

By Chen Chenchen Source:Global Times Published: 2013-12-27 0:33:05

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou said on Wednesday that the first meeting between top officials from Taiwan and the Chinese mainland in charge of cross-Straits relations, scheduled in February, would be a positive development that may help break the current negotiations deadlock.

Last week, Ma expressed openly, for the first time, he is trying to participate in the 2014 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in Beijing and meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Although Ma has stressed that his administration does not avoid cross-Straits political issues, analysts believe, at least from 2009 to 2012, the Ma government kept sidestepping the issues, saying that the conditions were not mature enough.

Nonetheless, the latest shift of attitude in the Ma government indicates a positive trend.

Both sides across the Taiwan Strait now have the clear consensus that a solution to the current political standoff cannot be postponed forever. Seeking an end to the cross-Straits deadlock is not a one-sided expectation from the mainland.

It is widely agreed that the close economic interaction between the mainland and Taiwan will continue in the coming years.

Since Ma stepped into office in 2008, pragmatic cooperation mechanisms in a number of fields, including trade, crime investigation, tourism and transportation, have been boosted.

Memory of political confrontation across the Straits have not disappeared among older generations on both sides, and the voice of "Taiwanese independence" has never dissolved on the island.

It remains uncertain what Taiwan's internal political contention will bring to cross-Straits ties.

There are arguments, that given the intense political infighting within the island, Ma sees a historical gesture at 2014 APEC as the best option to raise his domestic popularity.

But at least, it is a positive signal that Taiwan is aware of the changing dynamics in Asian-Pacific geopolitics, and is seeking to make some major adjustments in its cross-Straits strategy.

Cross-Straits strategic reform calls for acute political wisdom. And it will not be an easy task to make breakthroughs on politically sensitive topics.

Nonetheless, amid the changing geopolitical dynamics, Taiwan has no choice but to face up to the political divergence with the mainland, and stick to the principle of making decisions based on realistic demand by the Taiwan society and its core interest.

Taiwan has to work out a way to protect the current momentum of expanding communication with the mainland. The mainland has limited influence on Taiwan's internal political ecology. But in the long run, radical voices of isolating from the mainland will be increasingly marginalized.



Posted in: Observer

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