Observers saw the welcomed disaster relief as another good omen in improving relations between Beijing and Taiwan with the election of a Kuomintang Party Wu Poh-hsiung as president in March, seen generally as more amenable to negotiation with the Mainland, at least on economic subjects.
Now, for example, travelers between Taiwan and the Mainland usually must change planes in Hong Kong or Macau with Taiwan limiting the number of Mainland Chinese visitors. Tourism circles on the island believe there could be a bonanza if the present restrictions were removed, evidenced by the popularity of special charter flights during the Chinese New Year taking place since 2005. There was some speculation weekend charters on a regular basis might begin as early as July 4, with cargo flights later.
Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation and China's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, the two semi-government organizations that handle off and on negotiations between the two Chinas, are expected to return to the negotiating table in June. Reports from both sides said Taiwan had added Nanjing to the list of initial destinations for direct flights, which currently include Shanghai, Beijing, Guangdong and Xiamen.
The last-minute addition is meant to better serve Taiwan businesspeople operating in the Kunshan industrial zone. There are an estimated half million Taiwan managers and technicians working on the Mainland. Taiwan investment may be as much as $100 billion and two-way annual trade between the two regions is hitting the $200 billion figure with a rise of about 20 percent annually.
But there is still powerful opposition to the talks from Taiwan’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party, whose more radical spokesmen have called for conditions before any further talks. "Dialogue should be restarted without the 'one China' principle as a sine qua non," said William Lai, DPP legislative caucus deputy whip, of two conditions laid down by newly elected President Ma Ting-jeou. They are: withdrawal of all cruise missiles from the southeast Chinese coast targeting Taiwan and the consensus of 1992 as a tacit agreement on "one China with different interpretations." Beijing has met neither of the conditions.
Ma has taken some of the sting out of the renewed negotiations, however, by appointing Lai Shin-yuan Lai as chairwoman of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC). Lai has distanced herself from her past “deep green” pro-Taiwan independence image, saying that the color green represented cleanliness, environmental protection, sustainability and peace.
