Wang Ming-tsung, president of the Taiwan Jinmen Pottery Art Society displays "Wind lion", a precious cultural heritage of Jinmen.

The political deadlock between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan could not be broken due to the Chen Shuibian authority's repeated intensification of separatist activities for "Taiwan independence" in 2004. Nevertheless, cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, culture and religion as well as personnel communication between the two sides have maintained an obvious upward trend on the basis of previous years. As the New Year set in, journalists of People's Daily and Xinhua News Agency together reviewed the exchanges in above-mentioned areas over the past year.

Economy &Trade

Chen Jianxing: In 2004, Cross-Strait exchange and cooperation in trade and economy continued to progress steadily on the basis of the achievements made in previous years and presented a new, positive situation, demonstrating Taiwan business people's continued rising confidence in further developing their businesses on the Chinese mainland.

Wang Zhao: What's more, Taiwan investors in the mainland have generally begun to enter the earning period, which will certainly inspire their confidence and thus further stimulate investment. Statistics released in the first half of 2004 show that nearly 90 percent of Taiwan-invested enterprises now in the output period in Guangdong, a province with the most Taiwan-funded enterprises, have gained profits. In Jiangsu Province, a sample survey conducted by the department concerned indicates that 80 percent of the local Taiwan-funded enterprises now in the output period have either gained profits or achieved a balance between gain and loss. Data from a stock exchange on the Island show that in the first three quarters of 2004, the total amount of investment returns gained by Taiwan listed companies in the mainland came near to 30 billion new Taiwan dollars. The profits made in the mainland by Shenghua and Nanya (South Asia), which have the greatest growth rates of earnings, had a 76-fold and 35-fold increase respectively.

Chen Binhua: Economists analyze that the growth rate of the amounts of investments made by Taiwan businessmen in the mainland in 2004 far outweighs the increase rate of the individual cases of investments, this signals the constant expansion of the scale of investments made by Taiwan businessmen in the mainland. In addition, the continued enlargement of investment amounts also reflects that Taiwan's investments in the mainland are developing in the direction toward capital- and technology-intensive industries.

Culture

Chen Binhua: In 2004, cultural exchange remained one of the most active and attractive aspects in cross-Strait swaps. In the opinion of an official with the HK- Macao-Taiwan Affairs Department under the Ministry of Culture, the prominent manifestations of the characteristics of cross-Strait cultural exchanges in 2004 are: Such exchanges continued to maintain a definite scale; large-scale activities and excellent items became the flashpoints; cooperation expanded unabated in width and depth; Taiwan's artistic circles actively exploited the cultural market of the mainland.

More than 20 visiting delegations of about 100 members each from the circles of fine arts, music, and cultural relics in the mainland were organized to go to the Island for exchanges in 2004. Professional theatrical troupes of various types brought with them classical programs to stage a series of performances in Taiwan, the strong flavor of national culture warmed up the cultural market on the Island. Take the classic drama "Teahouse" of the Beijing People's Art Theatre for example. Eight acts were successively staged in eight days, with attendance each exceeding 90 percent and the number of audiences totaling 15, 000 by turnstile count.

Wang Zhao: I still clearly remember the then media report that performance of the "Teahouse" made a stir in the audience on the Island: During the period when the drama was staged, audiences, young or old, swarmed into theaters everyday. They laughed, sighed or wept as the plot developed. Performance of the last act of the "Teahouse" saw the curtain descend amidst prolonged (a dozen or so minutes) applause. All these once again clearly prove the tacit agreement between the charm of the drama and the feelings of the people across the Straits. The exchanges of dramas headed by the "Teahouse" deserve to be called a flashpoint in cross-Strait cultural exchanges in 2004.

Chen Jianxing: Aside from brilliant performances of plays, cross-Strait cooperation in operatic art has been expanding in depth. With brand-new market operation and stage design, eminent performers, playwrights worked together to give show to a series of plays, for instance, Kunqu operas including the "Peony Pavilion", the "Hall of Longevity" and "Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai", and Peking operas including "Scholar of the Bashan Mountains" and "A Scholar under Heaven". This represents a step forward in passing down Chinese culture.

Religion

Chen Binhua: The touring performances of Chinese Buddhist music jointly given for the first time by the Buddhist circles across the Straits were a gala event of religious exchange between the two sides in 2004. The "Cross-Strait (Chinese) Buddhist Music Performance" was given three times first in Kaoxiung, Taipei, then in Macao and Hong Kong, and then in the United States and Canada with great success. Master Sheng Hui, vice-president of the Chinese Association of Buddhism, pointed out that it was a concentrated expression of the quintessence of Chinese Buddhist music and was another major event of exchange between Buddhist circles of the two sides following the Buddhist finger sarira's arrival in Taiwan in 2002, and the Buddhist ceremony of praying for subduing SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome), for prosperity of the country and peaceful life of the people and for world peace in 2003.

Wang Zhao: Non-governmental exchange in beliefs was also very active in 2004. In June, the 850-year-old Mazu statue of Meizhouwan, Putian, Fujian Province, arrived in Taipei, which attracted 10 million believers to worship. At the same time, 161 pieces of Mazu cultural relics were displayed in Taiwan, which were warmly welcomed by the believers. In September the 2nd "China, Tianjin Mazu Culture Tourism Festival" attracted nearly 1,000 Mazu followers from Taiwan.

Personnel exchange

Chen Jianxing: Cross-Strait personnel exchange maintained the momentum of growth .in 2004. In the first three quarters, the number of Taiwan residents who came to the mainland rose 42.9 percent to 2.71 million persons/times, while that of mainlanders visiting Taiwan grew 23.6 percent to 100,000 persons/times. Statistics show that 22, 876 mainlanders, or a 48.29 percent increase, went to Taiwan for exchange of 3,242 projects, or a 70.72 year-on-year percent increase from Jan. to Oct. 2004.

Wang Zhao: But the exchange is extremely imbalanced in terms of accumulative number. There were a total of 32.91 million Taiwan residents who visited the mainland from 1987 to Sept. 2004; while the number of mainlanders who went to Taiwan was only 1 million persons/times in the same period. According to experts' analyses, the root cause of the unbalanced personnel exchange between the two sides lies in the fact that the Taiwan authorities so far refuse to allow mainlanders to tour Taiwan Island and adopt various restrictive measures against cross-Strait exchanges.

Of course, the general situation is irresistible, because compatriots in both the mainland and Taiwan are of the same race having the same culture. Economic and trade cooperation is of mutual benefit and complementariness; personnel contact, and cultural and religious exchanges between them will definitely make big strides ahead in the future. The development of non-governmental contacts and exchanges embodies social progress and strength of the people, which are independent of the will of "Taiwan independence" separatist forces. No artificial factors can hold up cross-Strait exchange, which has developed to a sizable scale and extent today.

Related linkage

Trade between the mainland and Taiwan:

The indirect trade volume between the mainland and Taiwan reached US$63.48 billion, 36.2 percent higher than in the same period of 2003. The mainland's exports to Taiwan amounted to US$10.53 billion, 49.6 percent higher; imports from Taiwan was worth US$52.95 billion, representing an increase of 33.8 percent year on year. Taiwan gained a trade surplus of US$42.42 billion.

Taiwan investment:

The Chinese mainland ratified 3,256 projects invested by Taiwan enterprises. The contractual value amounted to US$7.16 billion and the amount of Taiwan investment actually used was valued at US$2.82 billion.

By the end of October 2004, altogether 63,400 Taiwan-funded projects in the mainland were approved, with Taiwan investment actually used amounting to US$39.3 billion.

By People's Daily Online