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Taiwan is a self-governing democracy, but China continues to claim the island as its own territory. In recent years, China has stepped up military drills around Taiwan, raising tensions across the strait. But this week, Beijing is striking a softer tone, welcoming the leader of Taiwan's opposition party for a five-day official visit. NPR's Jennifer Pak reports from just outside Shanghai.
JENNIFER PAK, BYLINE: About an hour's drive from Shanghai, you can find the most authentic Taiwanese cuisine on the mainland in Kaohsiung City...
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PAK: ...Where restaurants like this one flops down a plate of sweet and crunchy bamboo for diners to sample. And there are many more restaurants like this that cater to the Taiwanese business community, says Lee Jen Hsing. He came from Taiwan with a shoe manufacturer in the 1990s.
LEE JEN HSING: (Non-English language spoken).
PAK: He now runs a consultancy advising Taiwanese businesses who want to set up in mainland China, but he says fewer are coming these days.
LEE: (Non-English language spoken).
PAK: "Right now," he says, "the Taiwanese government effectively wants businesses to reduce investment in China, and that impacts my company." He hopes the visit by Cheng Li-wun, who heads Taiwan's opposition KMT Party, will send positive signals. It's a high stakes visit. The last time a sitting KMT leader came to China was almost 10 years ago, and Cheng told reporters last week, she's ready.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
CHENG LI-WUN: (Non-English language spoken).
PAK: "There is no need for war and conflict between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait," she says. "We can rely on our own wisdom and efforts to jointly forge a peaceful path." But Beijing ran military drills last year that encircled Taiwan by land, air and sea. Tensions have been escalating since Taiwan's 2016 election.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Shouting in non-English language).
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: (Shouting in non-English language).
PAK: That's when voters elected the Democratic Progressive Party, or the DPP, and they did it again three elections in a row. That worries Beijing. Xin Qiang is the head of the Center for Taiwan Studies at Shanghai's Fudan University.
XIN QIANG: (Non-English language spoken).
PAK: "The DPP's goal," he says, "is to achieve Taiwanese independence whenever possible. The only reason it doesn't dare to right now is because it knows that if it pursues Taiwanese independence, the mainland will act, including the option to use force."
Wen-Ti Sung is an expert on China-Taiwan-U.S. affairs at the Atlantic Council's Global China Hub. He says to deter China, DPP wants closer ties with the U.S., whereas the opposition, KMT...
WEN-TI SUNG: Talks more about finding ways to build accommodation and consensus with China.
PAK: Though the party is divided on how close they should get to Beijing. The U.S. supplies arms to Taiwan for self-defense, and the DPP-led government is looking at increasing defense spending. That angers Beijing says analyst Sung.
SUNG: So one way to go about managing the issue from Beijing's perspective is to invite a relatively Beijing-friendly political voice from Taiwan to get onto some nice photo ops.
PAK: The KMT leader's visit is all about signaling, he says, that dialogue is an effective tool to ease tensions and that the U.S. doesn't need to sell more arms to Taiwan. It's also an important signal to Chinese citizens who are growing more vocal about taking Taiwan by force, says Professor Xin.
XIN: (Non-English language spoken).
PAK: "In other words, this visit brings hope for eventual peaceful unification between the two sides," he says. Optics aside, businessman Lee says the Chinese government should pay more attention to what people in Taiwan think.
LEE: (Non-English language spoken).
PAK: "Sometimes using harsh language can backfire," he says. "Instead, Beijing should try to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Taiwanese people, and this visit is an opportunity." Jennifer Pak, NPR News in Kaohsiung City, Eastern China. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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