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TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou has leveraged growing economic tieswith China to reduce tensions to their lowest level since the twosides split in 1949. China's incessant effort to draw thedemocratic island closer politically has been on the back burner,and as Ma's second term begins Sunday the question is whether hecan keep it there. China continues to insist that Ma's self-governing island of 23million people is part of its territory, to be brought back intothe fold by persuasion if possible, by force if necessary. ButTaiwan, backed by a United States that is re-engaging in Asia aftera decade-long preoccupation in the Middle East, has no desire togive up its de facto independence. Analysts say that Ma, who won re-election over a more China-waryopposition, probably won't be pressed by Beijing anytime soon, butmight toward the end of his second four-year term. Since Ma took office in 2008, trade volumes between Taiwan andChina have soared. Commercial barriers have tumbled, and tourismand other exchanges have become commonplace. That may not be enough for Beijing, which says concrete progresstoward formal unification is the most useful metric for measuringMa's performance. On that point, Taiwan and the authoritarianmainland remain far apart. In 1992, informal representatives of the two sides acknowledgedthat there is only one China, but took no clear position on whetherit is the People's Republic of China on the mainland or theRepublic of China on Taiwan. Taiwan's mass circulation United Daily News said Wednesday thatBeijing appears to hope that Ma's overtures will eventually "gobeyond the 1992 Consensus, and reach the more concrete formula that'both sides belong to one China.'" If Ma ever accepted that formula, it could be seen as signaling hisacceptance that Taiwan must eventually be ruled by Beijing. During his re-election campaign, Ma raised the prospect of a formalpeace treaty between the two sides, his first clear political movein Beijing's direction. But he quickly drew back after popularopposition to the idea spiked, an illustration of how he isconstrained by Taiwan's boisterous electorate. Despite supporting the president's efforts to engage Chinaeconomically, that electorate strongly resists politicalintegration, amid a growing tendency to define itself as Taiwaneseand not Chinese at all. "People are open to dealing with China economically and even goingthere to work," said political scientist Ketty Chen of Taipei'sNational Taiwan University. "But they still consider themselvesTaiwanese and see China as just another foreign country, eventhough they speak the same language." Public opinion polls have repeatedly shown that no more than 10percent of Taiwan's people want political integration with themainland, while 60 to 70 percent favor the status quo. Theremainder support formal independence, a step that China says wouldlead to war. Political scientist Alexander Huang of Taipei's Tamkang Universitysaid Beijing appears to appreciate the political constraints underwhich Ma is operating. "I suspect that China will not push Ma too hard during the comingfour years," Huang said. "It has an increasingly good understandingof Taiwanese politics, and understands the pressures that Ma isfacing." Another reason to expect a moderate Taiwan policy from Beijing,Huang said, is China's preoccupation with its own problems. Itsonce overheated economy has cooled abruptly, and political troublesseem to be cascading in the wake of unspecified allegations ofmalfeasance against one-time Communist Party high-flyer Bo Xilai. "I just don't think it's wise for China to take on a big issue likeTaiwan at this juncture," Huang said. Political scientist George Tsai of Taipei's Chinese CultureUniversity said Beijing will have to determine if it wants to takeadvantage of Ma's weakened political standing at home, which hascome to the fore in recent weeks following a series of conspicuousmissteps on economic policy. "They can either take advantage of his position, or they can decideto not apply pressure on him," Tsai said. Chen said she expected that China would hold off on pressing Maduring the next year or two, but could change its tune after that,even at the risk of reinvigorating Ma's political opponents. "After the dust settles China will put more pressure on Taiwan,"she said. "China will try to extract concessions from Ma that couldput his own party in a difficult position in future electioncampaigns.". The e-commerce company in China offers quality products such as Body Slimming Gel Manufacturer , Botanical Slimming Softgels Manufacturer, and more. For more , please visit Safe Slimming Pill today!
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