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Beijing lures Taiwan businessmen
By Willy Wo-Lap Lam
HONG KONG, China (CNN) -- Beijing is concentrating on luring Taiwan businessmen while ignoring the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). While touring Guangdong province last week, Vice-Premier in charge of foreign and Taiwan affairs Qian Qichen pledged that Beijing would never change its policy of welcoming Taiwan investors. "Taiwan compatriots can rest assured that the policy of welcoming them to expand economic activities on the mainland will not change," state media on Monday quoted Qian as telling Taiwan executives based in Guangdong. Qian, who retired from the Communist party Politburo last month, also indicated that Beijing was eager to accomplish direct mail, transport and business links with Taiwan. Last month, Beijing made an apparent concession to Taipei when it indicated talks on the three links could commence without Taiwan having to declare support for the one-China policy. However, political analysts in Taipei said it was unlikely the administration of President Chen Shui-bian would move quickly on the issue in the coming year. The analysts said Beijing had decided to ignore Chen and his pro-independence party while concentrating on using the business card to boost Taiwan's economic dependence on the mainland. Difficult relationsIn 2000, when Chen was elected president, there were cases of Beijing penalizing Taiwan companies that had given economic and political support to the DPP. Discrimination against businessmen with personal ties with the DPP had largely stopped by late last year.
So far, Qian and other senior officials have made no public comments on last weekend's mayoral elections in Taipei and Kaohsiung, where the DPP was widely interpreted to have lost ground. Li Jiaquan, a top Beijing expert on Taiwan, told the official media after the elections that it would be difficult for cross-Taiwan Strait relations to improve in the foreseeable future. Li criticized DPP candidates and their supporters for playing up "ideological issues" during the campaign, such as the imperative of building a new Taiwan identity. Diplomatic sources in Beijing said particularly after the DPP's setback last Saturday, party General Secretary of Hu Jintao and the new leadership would wait until after presidential polls scheduled for early 2004 before agreeing to official exchanges with Taipei. They said Beijing was afraid official contacts would be interpreted in Taiwan as the mainland's "recognition" of the DPP's status as ruling party.
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