Word: taipei
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...Taiwan's brief history. Ever since Ma's political party, the Kuomintang, fled mainland China to Taiwan after losing a civil war to Mao's communists in 1949, relations between the two have been antagonistic at best. Beijing treats Taiwan as a runaway province and has blocked the democratic Taipei government from receiving diplomatic recognition or participating in many international forums. Both sides armed the Taiwan Strait to the teeth, turning it into one of Asia's most dangerous military flash points. Contact between them has been grossly restricted. A year ago, Taiwan residents couldn't take a scheduled flight...
...first time, mainland investments would be allowed in a broad range of Taiwan manufacturing and services companies. China Mobile, the mainland's largest cellular-service provider, has already agreed to invest about $530 million in Taiwan's Far EasTone Telecommunications, although the landmark deal has not been approved by Taipei. In perhaps the most hopeful sign of change, China recently relaxed its longstanding opposition to Taiwan's inclusion in international organizations. After being rejected since 1997, Taiwan was finally invited this year to be an observer at the World Health Assembly, the governing body of the World Health Organization...
...recognize the other's right to exist, but which have inevitably been drawn together economically. Taiwan is a global center of IT manufacturing, and in recent years, the island's companies have for competitive reasons been compelled to open factories on the mainland, taking advantage of a liberalization of Taipei's restrictions on such investments. More than a million people from Taiwan now live in China in industrial centers near Shanghai in the east and in Guangdong province in the south. Direct transport links greatly enhance efficiency and lower costs of doing business across the strait, which could help...
...easing of tensions has come about in part because Ma, a Harvard Law School graduate and former Taipei mayor, is a far more palatable politician to Beijing than his more confrontational predecessor, Chen Shui-bian. China's leaders ultimately want the island and the mainland to reunite. During his eight years as President, Chen irked Beijing by flirting with ways of making Taiwan more formally independent, such as scheduling a referendum on applying for U.N. membership under the name Taiwan. Ma, on the other hand, has promised not to declare Taiwan an independent state, a position that has made...
...tente carry a political price for Ma. Many in Taiwan don't consider the island to be part of China, and they fear closer ties will eventually lead to a loss of identity, even sovereignty. Last October, hundreds of thousands protested against Ma's China policy in a Taipei rally organized by the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Another large protest is planned for May 17. Ma "sees the closer ties [with China] as an opportunity," says Cheng Wen-tsang, the DPP's spokesman. "But we see them as a threat...