Detente in the Taiwan Straits: One Country, Two Regions

Within a very short time after Taiwan’s Ma Ying-jeou took over the presidency, the impasse in relations with mainland China gave way to a new phase of dialogue that rapidly achieved concrete results, notably in terms of air links and tourism. Responsibility for this success lies not only with Ma but also – maybe even more so – with the leadership in Beijing under Hu Jintao, who shares Ma’s basic policy of pragmatism and flexibility. Beijing has now even agreed to deal with Taibei on an equal basis according to the new approach of “one country, two regions”, which replaces the old concept of “one country, two systems”. Though more progress in terms of normalization and detente between the two sides is likely to be achieved in the near future, big problems remain to be solved, especially with regard to military security and disarmament.