Beijing’s intention in cross-straits ties

By Frank Ching

When Ma Ying-jeou became president of Taiwan more than three years ago, he predicted a "new era of cross-straits relations."

In his inaugural address, President Ma made it clear he believed democratic Taiwan would be a beacon for the Chinese mainland and said, "We can make unparalleled contributions to the democratic development of all ethnic Chinese communities."

Since then, more than 3 million mainlanders have visited Taiwan, mostly as part of tour groups, injecting some $4 billion into the economy. In June, Taiwan lifted the ban on individual travel and the number of visitors is likely to increase.

It is difficult for members of tour groups traveling on a fixed itinerary to meet with Taiwanese people but, even so, Taiwan with its free press and its democratic government is making an impression on the travelers, some of whom have expressed their surprise at the difference between the island and the mainland.

For example, a former district party secretary in Chengdu, after returning from Taiwan, said the difference between the two societies can be summed up in one observation: "The Taiwan police look at you and treat you with respect and the mainland police do not."

While the vast majority of mainland tourists are probably only interested in sightseeing, clearly Taiwan is having an impact on the thinking of some visitors. The International Herald Tribune quoted an unidentified traveler as saying with amazement: "They can throw their leaders out if they aren't doing their jobs. Our leaders would never allow that."

Li Fan, head of the China and the World Research Institute, wrote an article in Nanfeng Chuang magazine in which he praised the progress made by Taiwan in democracy and human rights.

He said that the two changes in ruling political party in Taiwan have resulted in great progress for human rights and democracy.

The Kuomintang, which ruled Taiwan for five decades, lost power in the 2000 presidential elections to the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party and the DPP, after eight years in power, lost in the 2008 elections, which saw the election of Ma and the return to power of the KMT.

Li’s observation on the transformative power of a multiparty democratic system is very significant since the Chinese Communist Party has reiterated on numerous occasions that it would never allow a system of rotating parties assuming power on the mainland.

"The people of Taiwan have unprecedented human rights," he wrote. "The guarantor of this democracy is the rule of law. Heretofore, the rule of law only existed in Europe and the United States (and Japan in Asia). Now we can see the rule of law in Taiwan. And some people had said that because of cultural differences it would be hard to establish the rule of law in Chinese cultural areas."

This was close to a frontal attack on the Communist Party, which has said that Western-style democracy is not suitable to China's national conditions.

Clearly, some mainland visitors to Taiwan are impressed with democracy on the island. But very few are likely to work actively to change the mainland's political system, which would risk a prison sentence

Beijing must have anticipated that visits to Taiwan would result in some disaffection with Communist Party rule on the mainland.

This is also true of mainland visitors to Hong Kong, many of whom buy books and newspapers banned on the mainland. Some have even taken part in protests in the former British colony, denouncing the Tiananmen Square military crackdown in 1989.

But Beijing evidently believes that it can handle whatever consequences there may be to its policy of allowing visits to Hong Kong and, now, to Taiwan,

Hong Kong, of course, was incorporated into the People's Republic of China in 1997, and Beijing's policy vis-a-vis Taiwan is to try to achieve the same result there.

China's stated policy is that as long as Taiwan is unified with the mainland, it can keep its political, economic and social systems intact.

In its attempt to win the hearts and minds of the people of Taiwan, it is allowing great economic integration between the two sides as well as people-to-people contacts.

Beijing evidently believes that while this is a two-way street, it has a better chance of winning the support of Taiwanese than Taiwan has of winning over the hearts and minds of mainlanders.

Frank Ching is a journalist and commentator based in Hong Kong. E-mail the writer at Frank.ching@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @FrankChing1.