Top negotiators from the mainland and Taiwan signed the long-awaited Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) on June 29. The first comprehensive economic pact across the Taiwan Straits over the past six decades, ECFA indicates a stride toward a unified market and historical consensus between the two. It will undoubtedly bring positive changes in cross-Straits relationship, which has witnessed major turbulence in the past decade.
However, ECFA's significance for peaceful reunification across the Straits cannot be overestimated. It's impractical to expect that an economic pact would break the political status quo in the Taiwan Straits in the forseeable future.
US interference has further complicated the situation.
Earlier this year, US arms sale to Taiwan erased at one stroke the hard-won mutual trust across the Straits. Currently, the US is still seeking to maintain the status quo of cross-Straits situation to maximize its own interests in the region. The dynamics among the three parties won't be easily shaken.
In post-ECFA era, people on both sides will have more opportunities with each other. But the sense of estrangement won't vanish overnight. There may be friction between people on either side at the initial stage, due to different customs and manners.
Both sides need to be fully prepared for the difficulties in implementing ECFA.
Cross-straits reunification would be a long, tough process that calls for painstaking effort. The
effort would be worthwhile. (Source: Global Times, Jul 14 2010).