New Taiwan President Makes China Overtures

Since his election as Taiwan's president last March, Ma Ying-jeou has already begun negotiations with Beijing and moved to bring mainland Chinese tourists to the island. In an English-language interview with the New York Times, Ma sets out an ambitious plan for new cross-strait relations: direct links via air and sea, new market reforms, and an end to double taxes.

Ma's Nationalist Party won a landslide victory by promising economic reconciliation with mainland China. The new president has shifted focus on such issues as security or the international status of Taiwan, believing that economic accords can help end those impasses. "I think if we could continue the current talks with them to achieve economic normalization, I’m sure the feeling of a peaceful environment will continue to grow," said Ma. (More Taiwan stories.)