From another angle, with China's institutions and living standards swiftly catching up with Taiwan, restrictions on cross-strait exchange -- travel, capital movements and mutual technological complementation -- will definitely decrease daily in step with economic development.
Two opposite attitudes toward cross-strait exchanges now prevail in Taiwan. Some hold that direct links are omnipotent, while others think that direct links are an absolute no-no. The former regards direct links as a panacea for economic development and wants the government to completely lift the "no haste, be patient" policy -- it is as if only the links issue is worth discussing in the current Economic Development Advisory Conference.
Meanwhile, the latter dreads direct links, plays up the catastrophic effects they might cause and opposes the inclusion of the direct links in the agenda. These two viewpoints do not help us recognize the true nature of Taiwan's economy or develop effective strategies for international competition.
Taiwan is not Mexico. Nor is China the US. We do not expect cross-strait economic integration to generate the same outcome as US-Mexico integration.
However, we might learn from the Hong Kong-Shenzhen economic integration. The two sides across the Strait should complement each other, cooperate to seek win-win, mutually beneficial opportunities.
The worries about social discord are undoubtedly part of the chain of problems brought about by economic globalization.
Anti-globalization advocates around the world, including disadvantaged groups and environmentalists, have staged violent protests outside the conferences of international economic organizations. The hidden social issues of a globalized knowledge-based economy -- such as the gap between rich and poor and social discord -- seem to be universal problems. Such problems are not necessarily related to the establishment of direct cross-strait links and the easing of the "no haste, be patient" policy.
Jason Yeh is an assistant professor in the department of finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Translated by Jackie Lin
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