One of the pillars of the campaign, in
Taiwan, which led to the recent landslide win for the Presidency of Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalist Party (KMT) was the promise to improve relationship with mainland
China. The outgoing president Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) had been pushing vigorously for
Taiwan to declare itself to an independent nation, separate from mainland
China.
China, which has always maintained that
Taiwan is part of
China, has threatened to mount military action if
Taiwan were to declare independence. The election of Ma has decreased the threat of an eruption in the
Taiwan Strait. The trip down the road to improved relations has started.
According to Reuters, on Saturday, April 12, 2008 vice-president elect Vincent Siew had a short meeting with Hu Jintao, China’s President. Siew was attending a meeting at the high-level Boao Forum for Asia in Boao, Hainan Provence. April 11-13, Siew was attending as Chairman of the Cross-Strait Common Market Foundation., a private NGO based in Taiwan.
It is not expected that there will be any formal announcements of policy change at this time. Even though Siew was not traveling as Taiwan’s vice-president, a position that will be acquired until the inauguration on May 20th, analysts consider the meeting to be of historic importance considering the paucity of previous hi-level meetings.
2 comments:
Norman
I read that both candidates ran on a platform for a better relationship with China. They didn't seem to specify political or economic...it seems that they have already learned the double talk of politicians in a democracy.
Angie
It's not surprising that relations with China continues to be a hot issue with Taiwanese voters. Hopefully, this is a campaign promise that can be fulfilled!
Susan
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