Taiwan's Political Gridlock Threatens Its Regional Position and Cooperation with China

Taiwan's Minister of Mainland Affairs, Wang Yu-chi, is due to visit China from Feb. 11 to Feb. 14 in what has already been hailed a major step forward in China-Taiwan relations. Wang and his Chinese counterpart, Zhang Zhijun, are expected to discuss a number of trade and diplomatic issues, including a long-anticipated agreement to relax controls on cross-strait trade-in-goods and — according to recent speculation — a possible meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit later this year.

But Wang's visit comes amid prolonged political gridlock in Taipei and an internal crisis within Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang (Nationalist) Party. These factors threaten to undermine the Ma administration's efforts to deepen cross-strait economic cooperation and could exacerbate what Ma, in a Jan. 30 speech, called Taiwan's unprecedented crisis of marginalization.