Taiwan will sign a key investment pact with former rival China at a top-level meeting this week, but critics of Beijing remain deeply sceptical of closer ties with the \u201crascal\u201d mainland government. <\/p>\n
China\u2019s chief negotiator Chen Yunlin will put his name to the much-delayed agreement in Taipei on Thursday, providing a legal umbrella for the more than 80,000 Taiwanese businesses operating in China.<\/p>\n
Taiwan\u2019s China-friendly government has described the new pact as a milestone, reached two years after the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) eased tariff restrictions and boosted trade.<\/p>\n
The ECFA was widely characterised as the boldest step yet towards reconciliation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe investment protection agreement is of significance as it is the first agreement to be signed after ECFA,\u201d Chen\u2019s Taiwanese counterpart Chiang Pin-kung said at a press conference ahead of the meeting.<\/p>\n
Taiwan and China were split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, and stayed implacable enemies for decades, even after Taiwan\u2019s businesses started exploring opportunities across the strait.<\/p>\n
Growing economic interaction coincided with a political chill from 2000 to 2008 when independence-minded Chen Shui-bian was president of Taiwan, but his successor Ma Ying-jeou has advocated detente with the huge neighbour.<\/p>\n
This is the eighth meet in four years for Chen and Chiang , indicating the level of proximity.<\/p>\n
But, despite the expanding interdependence \u2014 reflected in an estimated Taiwanese investment on the mainland well in excess of $100 billion \u2014 many question the merit of pursuing closer links with China.<\/p>\n