NPR’s Frank Langfitt shares his experience during a recent reporting trip to Taiwan with NPR’s News Blog, The two-way.  For GES Staffer Brian Chen, a Taiwanese American himself, he sees both sides of the argument.  In the globalized world today, a friendlier economic situation with China will be helpful for businesses in Taiwan. However he is proud of Taiwan’s democratic ideals and hopes that as these two governments work together towards a better and brighter future, Taiwan will stand strong in its democratic ideals of freedom and rights. Chen summarizes NPR’s report:

At our day and age, Taiwan and China are enjoying the warmest relations in years. It was not always like this. Since the days of the end of the Chinese civil war, China viewed Taiwan as a renegade province. For example, in mid-1990s, Beijing fired missiles towards the island during Taiwan’s election campaign. As a response, the people of Taiwan elected the pro-independence candidate a clear majority.

However, after years of resistance, the Taiwanese government has decided to increase economic ties with China. Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou says he had no choice.  “As mainland China is rapidly becoming the second largest economy in the world, obviously, we cannot avoid doing business with the mainland,” Ma said in an interview with American journalists.

The businessmen of the island applaud the shift. For the first time, people can take direct flights from Taiwan to China, instead of transferring in Hong Kong. Furthermore, warmer economic relations also create new business opportunities. Some young people support the new policies because they see their future in China – not Taiwan.

Although support support the new policies, others are concerned about China’s influence. Joseph Wu, Taiwan’s de facto ambassador to the U.S. in 2007, opposes the new policies. “If Taiwan cannot separate itself from the Chinese economy, talking about political separation is going to be hard,” he says. “We hold the same value of freedom and human rights and democracy with the Americans.”  He argues that damage to Taiwan’s democracy as it engages with an authoritarian country should be a concern for the US. Furthermore, some worry that the opening of barriers will cause a flood of mainlanders to compete for the best jobs.

An example of China’s influence: “The Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, came to Taiwan earlier this fall to pray for victims of a typhoon. China — which calls the Dalai Lama a separatist — criticized Taiwan for giving him a visa. The Dalai Lama’s visit played out in other, revealing ways as well. When he visited the southern port city of Kaohsiung to comfort typhoon victims, the Chinese government took revenge on local businesses. Beijing prohibited government tour groups from spending the night in the city. “

Although Ma claims that the economic agreements with China won’t affect Taiwan’s autonomy, the Dalai Lama’s visit shows that separating economics and politics is difficult.