Beijing may bypass Taipei in wooing Taiwanese after election victory of pro-independence party

Beijing may bypass dealing with Taipei and concentrate instead on strengthening civil exchanges with the island if the incoming Democratic Progressive Party government refuses to recognise the “one-China” principle, analysts say.

The landslide victory by Tsai Ing-wen of the pro-independence DPP in the January 16 election, that ended eight years of rule by the mainland-friendly Kuomintang, has left many observers wondering whether Beijing will change its approach to cross-strait affairs.

READ MORE: Beijing to boost ties with Taiwan groups backing ‘one China’

On Tuesday, at an annual cross-strait affairs conference in Beijing, the Communist Party’s top political adviser, Yu Zhengsheng, said the mainland would boost exchanges with Taiwanese parties and groups that upheld the one-China principle.

The principle is part of an understanding between the Communist Party and the KMT that the mainland and Taiwan are part of the same sovereign nation, but it leaves open to interpretation which regime is the legitimate government.

Yu added that Beijing would continue to “firmly oppose and contain Taiwan independence separatist activities in any form”, but would also adopt “more measures to facilitate exchanges” in economics, culture, education, tourism and religion.

Yu’s comments were the first by a top mainland official handling Taiwan affairs since the island’s election.