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BEIJING, CHINA - CHINA announced an invitation to Taiwan doctors and new economic sweeteners on Wednesday ahead of next month's presidential elections on the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own.
China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since their split at the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949 and has threatened to bring it back to fold, by force if necessary.
It has also adopted a divide-and-rule tactic to win over hearts and minds by offering the people of Taiwan a series of economic sweeteners while refusing to deal with its independence-minded President Chen Shui-bian.
The new favours include allowing licensed Taiwan doctors with more than five years' experience to work in China without further tests.
Four new business zones with preferential policies would also be added to the existing four for Taiwan farmers to grow cash crops, flowers, fish or livestock, officials said at a news conference by the policy-making Taiwan Affairs Office.
Taiwan doctors were given the green light to work in China last year, but they needed to pass a test first to serve mostly the one million or so Taiwan businessmen and their families living on the mainland.
China would also help Taiwan-invested factories in coastal areas to cope with rising costs and shrinking margins with loans and opportunities in the country's vast central and western areas, said Zhou Ruojun, an official with the Commerce Ministry.
The Taiwan Affairs Office has said that Beijing will not interfere with the island's presidential elections on March 22, for which the opposition Nationalist Party's Ma Ying-jeou is a front-runner. Mr Ma advocates closer ties with China.
Despite the rivalry between the two sides, trade, investment and personnel exchanges have flourished since the late 1980s. In 2007, Taiwan enjoyed a trade surplus of nearly US$80 billion (S$112 billion) and is increasingly becoming dependent on its giant neighbour.
Chinese banks lent more than 230 billion yuan (US$32.14 billion) in loans to Taiwan-invested firms on the mainland in 2007, said Fan Liqing, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office.
She blamed Mr Chen's Democratic Progressive Party for dragging its feet on opening up Taiwan to mainland tourists and allowing direct flights across the strait between them. -- REUTERS
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