Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian's rejection of an overture from the mainland on resuming cross-strait direct links indicates the timing for such a move is not ripe for Mr Chen's re-election bid in 2004, analysts said yesterday.
Beijing has adjusted its strategy towards Taipei in its latest campaign, offering to reopen direct trade and transport links and put aside sensitive political pre-conditions.
And President Chen appears to have been caught off-guard.
Chen Kongli, a mainland scholar at the Taiwan Research Institute at Xiamen University in Fujian, said: 'Mr Chen sees the resumption of direct links as a bargaining chip [in his dealings with Beijing]. He will only use this chip at a time when he can draw the most interest such as at the height of his presidential run in 2004.'
The business sector in Taiwan supports resuming trading, communication and transport links. If these were implemented, it would give Mr Chen huge political kudos.
Mainland officials recently suggested that talks between private businesses could start as early as November and this created expectations among some Taiwanese businessmen who wish to benefit from investing on the mainland.
