Abstract
There were further movement in the already rapid development of economic links
between Taiwan and
mainland China in Q408, which had both geopolitical and
domestic implications.
December saw agreements on direct flights between
the two countries, and Chinese citizens can now send
mail directly to
Taiwan. In March, Taiwan' s Cabinet also revised regulations controlling China
visits by
government employees and private individuals, greatly relaxing
travel restrictions on high-ranking
officials. The reform also will ease
restrictions on mainlanders who wish to visit Taiwan. Such trips may
be
for either business or pleasure, but the government has maintained some
restrictions on civil servants
who are deemed to have access to state
secrets. The government hopes that the facilitation of exchanges
between
the two countries will aid in promoting a deeper understanding on both sides,
and contribute to
establishing healthier relations on both sides of the
Taiwan Strait.
The most significant signal of warming ties, however, came
on December 18, when a mainland official
said that Beijing may allow
Taiwan to join international bodies, including the World Health
Organisation,
after a series of talks. Taiwan' s President Ma has dropped
the country' s annual bid for representation, and
continues to face
opposition to the thawing of relations with China on his stated basis of
' three nos' : no
unification, no independence and no use of force.
Ma
has confirmed his commitment to maintaining Taiwan' s defence forces, while
continuing political
and economic reforms, although opposition to
increasing rapprochement with mainland China continues.
Nevertheless, in
March, 2009, the Ministry of National Defence (MND), in its 2009 Quadrennial
Defence
Review, has proposed streamlining the military hierarchy by
combining the current six-tier general
military command into three - army,
navy and air force - and reducing the nation' s 275,000 troops to
215,000
over the next four years.
Taiwan is moving to fully professionalise its
military forces by phasing out over the next five years the
conscription
of young men. This process will see each year a ten per cent reduction of
conscripts and its
cessation by 2014. However, the government will still
require its citizens to undertake a four-month
military training program
(perhaps to comply with the country' s constitution) and require these
trained
men to be on standby, should circumstances require their
mobilisation.
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