A specialist in US-Taiwan relations suggested Friday that Washington
might try to help the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) recover from its
crushing defeat in Nov. 29’s nine-in-one elections.
Steven
Goldstein, a professor of government at Smith College whose current
research focuses on cross-strait relations, said it was very much in the
US’ interest for cross-strait relations to continue developing
peacefully.
-snip-
Alan Romberg, director of the East Asia program at the Stimson
Center, said that in the aftermath of the recent elections Beijing would
continue its policy of peaceful cross-strait development. He said
Beijing would continue to stress economic relations and give benefits to
the people of Taiwan “in continuing efforts to win hearts and minds.”
Romberg
said China would make it clear that if a DPP government took office in
2016 and did not embrace some form of “one China” policy, there would be
consequences.
He said the election result was a reaction to
“perceived poor KMT governance” and a perception that the party had not
lived up to expectations. Chinese officials have been “engaging” DPP
leaders for quite some time, Romberg said, and these conversations and
contacts would now grow in intensity.
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