Taiwan's elections and the cross-Strait relations
- By Ge Hongliang
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, February 11, 2016
However, cross-Strait peace remains an important factor in Taiwan's political election. How to create a peace dividend for the people on the island is an issue of common concerned to both the KMT and the DPP. The people should get tangible benefits in the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, in terms of improvement of the people's livelihood, disposable income, employment rate and happiness index.
During Ma Ying-jeou's first term, Taiwan and the mainland signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). Over the past eight years, more agreements have been reached through the efforts of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation and the Beijing-based Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits.
However, Ma Ying-jeou has failed to promote these agreements and getting the "lift" of mainland development to help the island's people enjoy the dividends.
The people of Taiwan certainly hope to see peaceful cross-Strait relations, even though they have little interest in politics. How to promote the development of Taiwan's economy, contain the increasingly marginalized situation of Taiwan's economic status, and enable the people to enjoy the peaceful development dividends are the problems faced by the Taiwan leaders after the election.
The DPP becomes Taiwan's ruling party for the second time. The party's "Taiwan independence" program and Tsai Ing-wen's evasive talk in regard to cross-Strait relations triggered speculation of some "extraordinary move". However, if Tsai Ing-wen and the DPP want a second term in 2020, they must first deal well with issues of the island's economic development and the people's livelihood, both of which depend on the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.
Therefore, maintaining the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and enabling the people to enjoy material dividends brought about by the peaceful development should be the keynote approach of Tsai Ing-wen and her party. They need to think rationally and find a balanced view of future work.
The author is a researcher of the Charhar Institute and the Guangxi University for Nationalities.
This article was translated by Li Jingrong based on the original unabridged version published in Chinese.
Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)