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Editorial: Beware Chinese bearing gifts

The economic forum between the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) concluded with China offering 15 new policies as "gifts" for Taiwan. In the meeting between Chinese President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (連戰), Hu also made several suggestions to advance cross-strait peace and prosperity. The impression is that the KMT delegation has returned from the forum loaded with Christmas treats. A closer looks reveals that most of what they are bringing back to Taiwan lacks substance.

The 15 policy proposals are directed squarely at farmers, fishermen, students and healthcare professionals -- all traditional supporters of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). The extension of tariff-free status to imports of Taiwanese fruit and vegetables is likely to have little impact, as the novelty appeal of these items has now worn off. Fruit imported from Taiwan has proved too expensive and it is also unlikely that our farmers' vegetables will be able to compete with Chinese produce. Preferential import duties for frozen seafood are not particularly significant either. Frozen processed foods are the real money-earner and this category is not included in the preferential treatment.

Recognition of Taiwanese degrees and the provision of receipts for medical treatment obtained in China have long had tacit government approval. There is similarly nothing new in the proposal to allow up to 70-percent investment by Taiwanese in Chinese hospitals. The fact that Taiwanese physicians can now apply to practice medicine in China seems at first to be a real advantage. But this would have happened in due course as part of China's WTO obligations, and has simply been brought forward so that Taiwanese physicians can make up the shortfall of doctors in China.

During the recent talks between KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), Chen suggested that Lien should ask Hu if there was room for "each side having its own interpretation" of the "one China" principle under the fictitious "1992 consensus."

Hu let this opportunity to break the cross-strait deadlock slip by. He is perfectly aware of the significance of this "consensus" and his unwillingness to provide clarification aims to deny the DPP room to maneuver politically. It also highlights China's unwillingness to contemplate the existence of "two Chinas," or "one China and one Taiwan." The fact that Lien did not raise the issue simply proves that he is spineless.

Last year, Lien was given the red carpet treatment when he traveled to China in his capacity as chairman of the KMT. Since then, although the KMT has had considerable success in obstructing the government in Taiwan, very little of what was promised in the Lien-Hu joint communique has been realized. This time around, Lien's status in China's eyes must have diminished considerably. The fact that Lien "reported" to Hu on the eve of his summit with US President George W. Bush has, however, given the Chinese president greater confidence in lecturing outsiders on the China-Taiwan relationship. This is Lien's gift to China.

Any of the 15 "gifts" bestowed by China that do not impinge on the nation's sovereignty can be accepted with gratitude. The rest should be flatly rejected. But what the government needs to take notice of is the fact that the heads of some of the nation's largest business groups, which together contribute 48 percent of the nation's GDP, attended the economic forum in China. These businessmen are a significant force within the country and their presence at the forum showed that China's policy of pressuring the government through commerce is working.
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