Beijing Planning New Approach to Taiwan: 南华早报

choi

Lawrence Chung and Choi Chi-yuk, Beijing Planning New Approach to Taiwan Affairs; Mainland to focus on young people and small businesses after earlier efforts failed to advance its reunification agenda. South China Morning Post, Apr 30, 2017.
http://www.scmp.com/news/china/p ... oach-taiwan-affairs

Quote:

(a) "analysts in Taiwan say that between 2008 and last year [during Ma presidency] Beijing lost its best chance to engage young Taiwanese and realign their mindset about the island’s historical link with the mainland.

(b) "The new approach has echoes in Beijing's approach to Hong Kong, where young people increasingly identify themselves as Hongkongers rather than Chinese 20 years after the former British colony's return to Chinese sovereignty. * * * Young Hongkongers, like young Taiwanese, increasingly view themselves as something other than Chinese, with a University of Hong Kong survey last year finding that 86 per cent of those aged between 18 and 29 were not proud to be Chinese citizens.

(c) " 'I understand the central authorities are seriously considering a change in their policy towards Taiwan, with some approaches definitely different from the previous one,' Major General Peter Huang Zhicheng, a member of China’s top political advisory body, told the South China Morning Post in March.

"A source close to the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, Beijing’s top government agency for handling cross-strait issues, said the mainland side might scale down its decade-long reliance on the inter-party dialogue between the Communist Party and KMT to deliver preferential policies to the Taiwanese public and would seek instead to engage different walks of life in Taiwan through local, civilian organisations.

(d) "Chen's successor, Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT, adopted a policy of engaging Beijing but did little to help change the situation during his time in office between 2008 and 2016, Wang said, partly because he was concerned about a backlash among Taiwanese society and partly because of the rapid growth of a Taiwan-centric mindset among those aged between 18 and 21.

"He [Wang] said today's youngsters were unlike their predecessors, who supported Taiwanese independence because of their political beliefs, and instead saw 'Taiwan as their natural home country and China as just another state.'

(e) "Analysts said the protest, which became known as the sunflower movement after the symbol chosen by the students, best reflected the mindset of the younger generation.

" 'Because independence is no longer their concern, this explains why pro-independence activities have dwindled sharply since Tsai [Ing-wen, of the DPP] became president in May last year, as these people care only about whether the rights and interests of Taiwanese people are infringed,' said Sun Yang-ming, vice-president of the National Policy Foundation [國家政策研究基金會副執行長 孫揚明], which is affiliated with the KMT." (brackets original)

"He said the Ma government could have done more to readjust young people’s mindset by re-establishing the historical link between the two sides, and it was a bit late for Beijing to focus on wooing Taiwanese youths.

" 'But to do it late is better than doing nothing,' he said.

(f) "Lee Chih-horng [李氣虹 (male)], a research fellow at the Singapore-based Longus Institute of Development and Strategy, said that while it appeared difficult to change the Taiwan-centric mindset of young Taiwanese, all Beijing needed was patience and to continue active exchanges with them.

(g) " 'I tried hard to look for a job after I completed my draft training in the military in the past year or so, but all I got were low-pay offers, mostly as a low-level office clerk on no more than NT$22,000 (US$725) a month,” said the 22-year-old graduate, who majored in industrial design. “So I have decided to work in Shanghai with a commercial design company where I will start on the equivalent of NT$32,000.'

"He said he got the offer through a Taiwanese relative working in Shanghai.

"There are now about half a million Taiwanese working or living on the mainland, with around 17,000 Taiwanese students studying there.

My comment:
(a) There is no need to read the rest, which is long and inane.
(b) 黄植诚
https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/黄植诚
(1952- ; 生於台灣，祖籍广西，壮族人; 1981年駕F-5戰機由台灣飛到中國大陸，為前中国人民解放军空军少将; 全国政协委员)
(c) "Jiang Erxiong, a vice-president of the All-China Federation of Taiwanese Compatriots (ACFTC)"

中华全国台湾同胞联谊会 (全国台联) 副会长 江尔雄（女）
(d) "Professor Wang Kung-yi [sic; should be 'Wang Kun-yi' 王坤一], an international relations and strategic studies specialist at Tamkang University in Taipei"
(e) Longus Institute For Development And Strategy. LinkedIn, undated
https://www.linkedin.com/company ... opment-and-strategy
("隆道发展与战略研究院,简称 '隆道智库,' 为具公益性质的第三方独立研究机构。隆道智库以龙永图(中国入世首席谈判代表、博鳌亚洲论坛前秘书长、中国G20研究中心主任)和郑永年(新加坡国立大学东亚研究所所长、教授、著名中国问题专家)为领军人物 * * * 由福建林氏兄弟提供启动资金"/ Founded 2015)
(f) At the bottom of this report is

"This article appeared in the South China Morning Post print edition as:
Cross-strait cross-pollination"