China offers economic boons to Taiwan

The island’s authorities have met the proposed measures with open distrust

China has unveiled a set of new economic incentive measures for Taiwan, offering to resume some ties with the island. The announcement comes after a visit by the head of Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT), to Beijing.

Taiwan has been a de-facto self-governing territory since 1949, when Chinese nationalist forces fled there after losing the civil war. Beijing regards the island as an integral part of its territory under the One China policy, which is backed by the overwhelming majority of the UN member states.

Beijing’s Taiwan Affairs Office unveiled the 10-point economic incentive package to the island on Sunday, which includes fast-tracking a full resumption of regular direct flights across the Taiwan Strait and facilitating access for Taiwanese food products to the Chinese market. The plan also envisions sharing energy and water supply with Matsu and Kinmen, Taiwanese-governed islands that are geographically closer to the mainland, as well as working on constructing a bridge to them.

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The announcement comes after the six-day visit of KMT chairwoman Cheng Li-wun, who met China’s President Xi Jinping on Friday. The visit has been repeatedly condemned by Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, while the island’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) had warned Cheng that “overstepping the boundary” during the mainland tour could land her in jail.

Cheng said she was “very thankful” to China’s leadership for the proposed preferential measures. “As I said during the Cheng-Xi meeting, things must be done one by one,” she stated.

Taiwan’s authorities, however, openly signaled their mistrust towards Beijing and expressed displeasure at getting sidelined by the KMT. Presidential Office spokesperson Karen Kuo said that “any exchanges should not be subject to political preconditions, nor should they be used as tools for political maneuvering or deals by specific parties.” 

The MAC urged caution over Beijing’s latest announcement, stating that similar measures had been repeatedly rolled out and suspended by China in the past. “The same pattern is now being repeated, without any institutional safeguards for Taiwan’s industries, farmers, fishers or the rights and interests of the public, making the measures highly risky,” it said in a statement.