IT takes two to tango. Just because China has made a conditional invitation to Taiwan to promote the development of trade and shipping across the Taiwan Strait, it would be naive to assume Taipei would instantly accept.
All the same, there were some naive people out there last week. The share price of long-suffering Taiwanese shipping stocks shot up on the Taiwanese SET Index early last week before later dropping back when investors realised a solution to the direct shipping problem was not a foregone conclusion.
If you read the fine print of the document prepared by China, you would appreciate that if Taipei accepts this deal it could be setting itself a difficult political precedent.
The document, comprising 14 articles, is aimed at promoting the development of trade, economy and shipping industries across the Taiwan Strait, but in accordance with the one-China principle.
There would be mutual economic benefits for both Taiwan and China, especially Fujian province. The only loser would be Hong Kong, which currently benefits as a transshipment point for indirect trade between the two.
But the one-China theme may prove difficult for some pro-independence Taiwanese to swallow.
