Economic integration key to cross-Straits ties
As its theme "Asia's New Future: Towards a Community of Common Destiny" indicates, the 2015 Bo'ao Forum for Asia is expected to focus on mutual interest and win-win cooperation of all Asian economies.
The possible meeting between the top leader Xi Jinping and Vincent Siew, honorary chairman of the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation of Taiwan, at the 26-29 March forum has aroused much expectation about economic integration, which is crucial for the improvement of Taiwan residents' livelihoods as well as cross-Straits relations. How to deepen cooperation between enterprises and create more jobs for youths on both sides will constitute a major topic of discussion between Xi and Siew should the expected meeting come through.
Despite the challenges and the global economic problems, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have made a host of notable achievements in economic integration over the past six years or so. Of the 21 agreements signed by the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Straits Exchange Foundation in Taiwan, the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signaled the full normalization of cross-Straits trade ties. And the agreements on service trade and commodity trade (under negotiation) can help Taiwan further benefit from the mainland's economic rise and, more importantly, participate in the regional economic integration process.
On the trade front, Taiwan's exports to the mainland and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region are said to have reached more than $150 billion last year, accounting for nearly 40 percent of its total off-island trade ($313.84 billion), of which less than $35 billion were with the United States.
Being a major destination of the mainland's investment ($334.63 million) and tourists (about 4 million) in 2014, Taiwan enjoyed a noticeable boost in its tourism, transportation, hotel and catering sectors despite its sagging economy in recent years. In other words, the economic environment in Taiwan would have been worse without the "influx" of visitors from the other side of Straits.
The deepening economic cooperation with the mainland also helped Taiwan become part of global economic integration process, which started to take shape at the beginning of this century. After the signing of the ECFA, the island successively reached an investment agreement with Japan and trade cooperation agreements with New Zealand and Singapore, and resumed negotiations on the US-Taiwan Trade and Investment Framework Agreement.
Still, Taiwan has a lot more to deal with in terms of its economic weaknesses. For instance, the widening income gap in Taiwan and its side effects have kept many small businesses and middle class youths from benefiting from the developing cross-Straits ties. As a result, some of them don't realize the necessity of better ties with the mainland, and thus have limited interest in pushing for cross-Straits economic integration.
The Chinese mainland is strong and confident enough to be "a responsible stakeholder", a poor metaphor used by Washington to criticize Beijing for "not shouldering enough responsibilities" as a major power. By seeking to be founding members of the Beijing-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, the more than 30 countries, including G7 members such as the United Kingdom and Germany, have proved that Beijing is indeed a responsible rising power.
But a worrying trend against cross-Straits trade has been seen in Taiwan, for example, in last year's stalled commodity trade agreement and anti-service trade agreement movement. Worse, the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which has long denied the 1992 Consensus, is likely to win the 2016 election. The bottom line, no matter which party assumes power in Taiwan, remains the adherence to the 1992 Consensus for the sake of Taiwan residents' well-being.
And only if the bottom line is adhered to can Taiwan's outlook become promising.
The author is a professor at the Institute of Taiwan Studies of Beijing Union University.
