The emergence of China as an economic superpower

Taiwan's President-elect Ma Ying-jeou is a breath of fresh air, at least for China and the US. For what has been an eight year nightmare (and no, we're not talking about the Bush Administration), Taiwan was under the hostile control of the Democratic Progressive Party's Chen Shui-bian, who constantly irritated Beijing for his rhetoric on an independent Taiwan. That, perhaps surprising, did also irritate Washington for building up unnecessary tension along the Taiwan Strait, even as Bush pushed for tighter trade regulations and currency appreciation pressures onto China. So the Nationalist Party winner Ma must be a cool down amongst everyone but the conservatives, but for how long, especially with the Olympics coming up (high time for renegade provinces to speak up) and the aftermath of the Lhasa riots?

Apparently, Tibet was the last card Ma's opponent, Frank Hsieh, pulled before he lost the landslide election. What if Taiwan ended up like Tibet, as the two countries pushed for greater integration? Yet 8 years of tension is more than what most voters can bear, especially with China becoming Taiwan's largest trading partner and Taiwanese businessmen slipping into China for its lost cost labor and similar corporate culture. Both sides will see a win-win situation in the end.

Said Ma: "China remain the greatest security threat. Taiwan's identity has to be respected, and we have to negotiate with each other on equal footing. What I can promise voters is that we will not negotiate the issue of unification and we will not support de jure independence, and we will oppose the use of force across the Taiwan Strait."

Well at least some sort of negotiation will occur, which is a start. Maybe the possibility of direct flights?