Beijing quiet to avoid a stir

Mainland officials and the media have been more cautious this year in commenting on the upcoming elections, apparently fearing that any sabre-rattling could backfire.

Analysts said Beijing was unusually quiet this week compared to its usual practice of saturating state media with strongly worded commentaries against the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party.

Yesterday, the Taiwan Affairs Office under the State Council called off a weekly press conference. No explanation was given but officers said it would be held next week as scheduled.

Timothy Wong Ka-ying, from the Chinese University, said he believed that Beijing had cancelled it to avoid antagonising Taiwan.

'Anything Beijing says at this moment will cause a big fuss in Taiwan, and Beijing does not want to see that,' he said.

A mainland analyst said Beijing was not eager to see any abrupt change in the present political situation in Taiwan and would rather take a passive approach while closely watching the elections. 'To be frank, Beijing is not overly concerned because it is well-expected that no political party will gain majority control in the Legislative Yuan [through the elections],' he said.