China Sees Change In Taiwan Leadership Bringing Closer Ties

BEIJING, April 16 -- China expressed confidence Wednesday that an imminent change of leadership in Taiwan will swiftly lead to direct airline connections, increased tourism and more cross-strait investment.

The prediction, from the government's Taiwan Affairs Office, intensified anticipation of a broad lowering of tensions across the Taiwan Strait after President-elect Ma Ying-jeou formally takes over as leader of the self-ruled island from President Chen Shui-bian on May 20.

The Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman, Li Weiyi, said at a news conference that Ma's suggestions for early talks on direct flights and easier tourist entry permits would receive favorable consideration in Beijing. "With hard work by both sides, I am sure this will very shortly be worked out," he added.

Li pointed to pledges of cooperation made by President Hu Jintao and Taiwan's vice president-elect, Vincent Siew, when they met Saturday on the sidelines of an economic conference on China's Hainan Island. Li said the encounter, although mostly symbolic, "had an extremely positive meaning" for the future of ties between Taiwan and the mainland.

But he stopped short of predicting an immediate resumption of the overall political, military and strategic talks that Ma put forward as his ultimate goal. "Everyone can make his own judgment about that," Li said when asked whether such talks could begin immediately after Ma's inauguration.

Ma, of the Nationalist Party, has said he will set aside the question of Taiwanese independence in favor of practical steps toward improving relations with the mainland, leading to what he hopes will be an agreement on the end of hostilities. But the first step, he said in a recent interview, will be frequent direct charter flights and, later, direct scheduled flights that he hopes will carry in thousands of mainlanders for tourism and family reunions.

In sharp contrast, Chen and his Democratic Progressive Party made Taiwanese independence the cornerstone of his eight years in power. His single-minded pursuit of that goal, underlined with dramatic gestures, led Beijing to refuse to deal with him. It also irritated the Bush administration, with U.S. officials regarding Chen as reckless and untrustworthy.

The United States has pledged to help defend Taiwan, although the precise meaning of the pledge is purposefully vague. The island has been self-ruled since Chiang Kai-shek and his defeated Nationalist forces fled there in 1949. But Beijing insists it has remained part of China and one day must reunite with the mainland, by force if necessary.

More recently, Hu's government has expressed a willingness to live with the status quo while growing closer to Taiwan economically and culturally -- and perhaps even signing a peace accord -- as long as the island does not move toward formal independence. Since this stand matches Ma's platform, his election has been greeted with relief in Beijing.

The prospect of more relaxed relations has found resonance among Taiwan's 23 million people, who gave Ma a strong mandate in the presidential election March 22. Faced with a lagging economy, many Taiwanese expressed hope that more trade and tourism with the mainland could improve their standard of living.

"Generally, the atmosphere in Taiwan is full of high expectations," said Andrew Yang, secretary general of the Chinese Council of Advanced Policy Studies in Taipei. "There's a very positive endorsement of this contact, but there's also a tendency to over-expect developments in the future."

In that vein, pro-independence commentators in Taiwan warned that Ma and Siew would have less flexibility to act once in office, because they would have to be more attentive to public opinion. A significant section of the society still supports independence for the island, they pointed out, and 42 percent of the vote went to the Democratic Progressive Party's candidate, Frank Hsieh, despite a lackluster campaign and corruption scandals that tainted Chen's administration.

Special correspondent Jane Rickards in Taipei contributed to this report.