Beijing leaders need to understand Taiwanese feelings, expert says

The Communist Party's new leadership should ponder why more Taiwanese are unhappy despite the sweeteners Beijing has offered Taiwan under the Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement, said the former head of a key Taipei-based cross-strait exchange body.

Hung Chi-chang, a past chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, told a forum in Hong Kong last week: "The cross-strait talks platform set up by the Kuomintang [in Taiwan] and the Communist Party has repeatedly highlighted economic achievements and the many concessions Beijing has made, but public opinion polls in Taiwan, especially those of the younger generation, show us that they do not want to sacrifice Taiwan's sovereignty and dignity in exchange for economic benefits."

This fundamental difference explains why more formal dialogue has yet to be established despite October's much-hyped visit to the mainland by a former leader of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, Frank Hsieh Chang-ting, Hung added.

He said Hsieh's trip "won a lot of positive reaction in cross-strait political circles", but still failed in building a platform for dialogue with Beijing.

Professor Chang Ya-chung, president of the Taipei-based Chinese Integration Association, said: "It's a fact that Taiwan's younger generation does not only not think Taiwan is a part of China, but also believes Taiwanese are not members of the same ethnic group as mainlanders."

An opinion poll by Taiwanese cable news network TVBS on October 17 found that 75 per cent of the 1,266 people interviewed on the island considered themselves Taiwanese, compared with 15 per cent who said they were Chinese.

In the 20-29 age group, 87 per cent considered themselves Taiwanese, and in the 30-39 age group, it was 84 per cent.