Wednesday, May 13, 2009

"Exuberance" Over Warming Mainland Ties?

A well-written but decidedly one-sided article published in today's New York Times delineates how many Taiwanese show "exuberance" over Taiwan's markets opening to investment from Mainland China. While it's true that President Ma has been pragmatic in his efforts to engage the Mainland both economically and politically, not everyone on the island, as the writer may lead you to believe, is thrilled about recent increased cooperation between Taiwan and the Mainland.

A little less than half the population (currently around 40%) supports the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) (民主進步黨). Opposition candidates and "pan-green" citizens that support the party are grumbling that "President Ma Ying-jeou and the KMT are giving everything away to the Mainland..." Just ask your neighborhood taxi driver. The writer takes a decidedly pro-business slant and interviews notables in the investment community rather than candidates or supporters of the opposition political party.

To illustrate my point, Taiwan Premier Liu Chao-shiuan, in an article published the following day (Thursday, May 14), struck a far more cautious tone : "The government prefers to adopt a more conservative approach in the initial stages to allay public concerns."

Regardless, let's hope that Taiwan's markets improve along with its international relations.