It isn’t hard for the public to pick up on one noticeable trend on the nation’s political scene: Frequent visits by Chinese officials.
Currently visiting Taiwan is a 2,000-strong delegation led by the governor of Fujian Province, Huang Xiaojing (黃小晶). Prior to Huang, there were also visits made by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Hubei Provincial Committee Secretary Luo Qingquan (羅清泉) and the CCP’s Jiangsu Provincial Committee Secretary Liang Baohua (梁保華).
The Chinese delegations are usually characterized by a large number of delegates, billions of dollars in investments and various cooperation proposals they reportedly pledge to local businesses.
According to a report by the Central News Agency, visits by Chinese officials will soon enter the high season with Zhejiang Province Governor Lu Zushan (呂祖善), the CCP’s secretary for Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Guo Shengkun (郭聲琨), and Shannxi Province Governor Yuan Chunqing (袁純清) leading delegations to Taiwan in the coming months.
While some may wonder why there has been a sudden frenzy of Chinese officials visiting Taiwan, the answer is simple: Why not? Indeed, riding high on the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government’s eagerness to tout itself as a peacemaker in efforts to improve cross-strait relations, any Chinese official — regardless of ranking or level — can easily count on being thrown into the media limelight and treated to lavish welcomes arranged by KMT officials. After all, there’s no faster way to garner media exposure — or the chance to raise their profile in the eyes of the higher-ups in Beijing — than to make a trip to Taiwan and be the center of attention, all while surrounded by KMT heavyweights.
Chinese officials are more than welcome to visit Taiwan, as the visits help promote mutual understanding and allow them to experience Taiwan’s vibrant democracy first-hand.
It is a different matter, however, when the Chinese officials return Taiwan’s hospitality and friendliness with dubious promises and unsubstantiated declarations of large investments.
Following rampant local media coverage on the slew of procurements promised by the Chinese delegations, a question has been raised in many people’s minds: How many of the various grand business and investment proposals pledged by the visiting Chinese delegations actually materialize?
Even the Mainland Affairs Council, in response to inquiries from the press, readily acknowledged that it could not substantiate the veracity of investments proclaimed by Chinese delegations.
In view of this, one can’t help but recall the promise made by Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait Chairman Chen Yunlin (陳雲林) during his visit to Taiwan in November 2008 that China would purchase tonnes of oranges from Taiwan. Later, however, it turned out that Taiwanese orange farmers ended up losing money selling their goods to China.
Against the backdrop of the KMT government’s all-out campaign to promote an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, the huge purchasing deals declared by visiting Chinese delegations work to the government’s liking.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), however, is well advised to make sure that his government acts responsibly and debunks any of the promises made by the Chinese delegations if they are found to be little more than hot air.
It would be truly irresponsible on the part of the Ma government to play along with the Chinese delegations and construct a false impression that the visitors are like Santa, spreading gifts to Taiwanese businesses, when in fact they leave the latter nothing to look forward to but empty promises.
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