Cross Straits
Featuring Co-Development and Progress between China and Taiwan.
Mr. Wang Zhongfang shares his views on cross strait relations. He suggests that current leaders in China and Taiwan would learn important lessons from Dr. Sun Yat-Sen’s “Three Principles of the People”, which are the ideological foundation of the Xinhai Revolution that ended dynastic rule in China.
Mr. Wang acknowledges that the two dominant political parties in China and Taiwan have their roots in Dr. Sun’s Three Principles, but would serve their societies more effectively by revisiting the Three Principles of Nationalism, Democracy and Peoples Livelihood.
Seymour and Audrey Ronning Topping describe their 1971 interview with China’s premier Zhou En-Lai. It was the first interview that he gave to American correspondents in decades. Audrey Ronning Topping met premier Zhou through her father Chester Ronning, Canada’s first ambassador to China who was a close friend of premier Zhou. When Audrey met Zhou in 1971, he said that China’s greatest challenge in the future will be pollution.
Taiwan’s global dominance in many leading technological sectors and its international managerial expertise make Taiwanese companies ideal partners for Chinese firms seeking leadership positions in local and global markets. C.Y. Huang explains how combining the complementary capabilities of Taiwanese and Chinese firms in sectors such as retail, food, electronics, and financial services spurs the development of China-grown brands that may dominate domestic, regional and global markets.
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Michael Kurtz talks about the current trends in cross strait relations from a business perspective. Taiwanese companies have been using China as a manufacturing base for over twenty years. Now, as the Chinese market matures, targeting the Mainland consumer directly (especially in the financial services sector) could become the main China-Strategy for Taiwanese companies.
China and Taiwan have signed the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (“ECFA”) which lays the foundation for future Cross Strait negotiations. Since 2008, China and Taiwan have signed agreements for direct flights, direct telecommunications/post, and judicial assistance and cooperation. ECFA represents a strong opportunity for Taiwan to continue its “twin engine” economic growth strategy, which relies on both the US and China for growth.
Hong Kong has experienced less than 20 years of popular suffrage. After inheriting few democratic institutions from the British, Hong Kong residents have struggled to assert themselves in the governance of their territory. With vague promises of greater autonomy from Beijing, the final shape of Hong Kong’s democracy has yet to fully solidify.
In this interview, Frank Ching recaps the long road that Hong Kong has traveled to find its democratic identity, while negotiating the demands of interested parties, both local and afar.
After sixty years of cold (and sometimes hot) war in the Taiwan Strait, the world is witnessing a rapprochement that is taking hold in every societal sphere. Professor Leng shares his thoughts on trends and issues that may become focal points as the cross strait dialogue evolves in the coming years. He states that both sides need to better understand the domestic concerns of the other, and that regardless of whether one advocates unification or independence, the shared common imperative is to maintain peace and grow prosperity on both sides of the strait.
Cross Strait policy-making has more to do with local politics than international politics. In Taiwan’s open democracy as well as China’s more centralized polity, public opinion plays an important role when making policy. Professor Wu discusses how public opinion affects the interaction between China and Taiwan. He introduces three theories commonly used to study and discuss Cross Strait relations.
China's increasingly dominant position in the world economy makes it an undeniably important component of any company's global business strategy. Unfortunately, doing business in China still requires players to run a gauntlet of bureaucratic and practical obstacles. Professor Chen suggests looking to Taiwan for help entering the China market. Taiwan has linguistic and cultural links with China, as well as a mature legal environment that could make it an ideal home base for Greater China operations.
