A couple of quotes from Chinese visitors and representatives accompanying ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin I think could be indicative of the mindsets the Taiwanese are afacing in their negotiations with China. First up is ARATS Deputy Chairman Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中) who
had this to say about the prospect of the DPP be included in negotiations:
In response to media inquiry about President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) suggestion that the SEF find a way to include the opinions of opposition parties in the cross-strait negotiations, Zheng said ARATS would welcome any Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) members to have a dialogue with China “as long as they do not engage in Taiwan independence activities.”
Perhaps one can better see why this statement is odd if we consider that Zheng's words are equivalent to a DPP administration negotiating a deal in China and stating that all Chinese groups can participate "as long as the do not engage in China expansionist activities". At the moment, the DPP can safely engage in 'Taiwan independence activities' but with the signing of ECFA and proposed 'peace treaty', I suspect China will be looking to institutionalise legal constraints on any future Taiwan Government working outside or moving away from the One China Principle.
Another quote from Zheng:
Zheng stated that the ECFA would involve trade in goods, investment and services and aimed to achieve "more rational allocation of cross-strait resources" and would delineate "what we will do and what you can do."
I may be reading too much into those exact order of words and their multifarious meanings but to my simple mind Zheng is implying that an ECFA will allow China to do what they will do (self-determined) but it will limit what Taiwan can do (limited ability to self-determine). This then could be taken as an indicator that China sees ECFA as a instrument to better control interaction between Taiwan and China rather than as an 'economics-only win win'. And the final indicator? The ubiquitous reference to blood:The ARATS vice chairman also declared that "everyone on both sides of the Taiwan Straits are all Chinese and if we do not care about the welfare of our own flesh and bones, who will?"
My advice to Zheng? Stop talking about blood and start respecting Taiwanese by recognising that they do not wish for unification whether their main language is the same or not. PS: it could be that claiming ownership to Taiwanese flesh and bones might also come off as rather creepy rather than embracing ... Also, those missiles pointing at Taiwan don't exactly send a message that China cares for Taiwanese as 'brothers and sisters' or 'compatriots'.
