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Editorial: Beijing's kinder, gentler touch?

Cross-strait relations have suffered a double-blow in the past year. First came former President Lee Teng-hui's (李登輝) "state-to-state" statement, followed by Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) election victory in March. Beijing's military threats then sent relations down to a new low. The Taiwan Strait came to be seen by the international community as a powder-keg.

Now, after almost two months of wary watching, Beijing officials finally seem to have some gentle words for Chen's new government -- an abrupt departure from their past attitude.

This development is more than encouraging for many in Taiwan. Even Premier Tang Fei (唐飛) said during the Legislative Yuan interpellation that the government would soon make a proactive response.

Chen has considerably softened his style since he took over the Presidential Office on May 20. Until now, however, Beijing's responses to Chen's goodwill gestures have been its invariable "one China." The sharp contrast between Taiwan's flexibility and Beijing's stiffness has won Taipei much sympathy internationally and made Beijing look like the troublemaker that it is.

Now, this picture might to be changing. Xiamen City Mayor Zhu Ya-yan (朱亞衍) has accepted an invitation to visit Kaohsiung City. Beijing's defense minister, Chi Haotian (遲浩田), has also told US defense secretary William Cohen that Beijing currently does not intend to attack Taiwan, even though it is not giving up its threat to use force against Taiwan either. During a meeting with Taiwan lawmakers, ARATS chairman Wang Daohan (汪道涵) said he had noticed a readjustment in Chen's pro-independence stance. Foreign minister Qian Qichen (錢其琛), head of Beijing's task force on Taiwan affairs, said talks on "direct links" do not have to include the "one China" issue. Qian even called for a quick resumption of the long-dormant Koo-Wang talks. It seems like the "one China" iceberg blocking the Strait is finally starting to melt.

We believe Taiwan should not let Beijing's unprecedented gestures of goodwill pass by. But on the other hand, we must also stay alert to a possible two-pronged strategy, using a friendly approach to divide Taiwan's internal unity. Beijing has changed its "united front" (統戰) strategies against Taiwan recently, significantly expanding its scope and adopting more flexible means.

Whether the recent goodwill gestures are a reflection of this change in strategy remains uncertain. It is possible that any surprise comments made by individual officials before the Beidaihe (北戴河) meeting in August are mere lip service designed to win over Taiwan's lawmakers and media. Taiwan should not take these remarks too seriously, much less let down its guard on account of them. All these changes have come after the recent visits to China by the US secretary of state, Madeleine Albright, and Cohen -- and before next week's G8 summit in Okinawa. China may possibly use this opportunity to wage another wave of propaganda campaign designed to ease international opinion against it.

Now -- the darkest time for cross-strait relations -- is also the most hopeful time for change. Indeed, there are now signs of hope that bilateral ties can be salvaged from its current quagmire.

But as Mainland Affairs Council Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said, handling cross-strait relations is like riding a bicycle -- both feet must be pedaling in order to go forward. Now the pedals appear to be slowly moving, but we are still some way away from moving the bike forward.

We must warn again that a guarded optimism toward the positive interaction we are witnessing now is necessary, so we do not get carried away by wishful thinking. We have seen a tiny ray of light in the darkness, but it is still early to tell if dawn has arrived.
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