Government and Policy

Taiwan businessmen edge into Xiamen congress

By Zuo Likun (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-02-11 15:59

Three Taiwan businessmen edged into local people's congress in east China's Xiamen city last month, an unprecedented stride forward on cross-Straits ties that an expert believes might pave a political career for people from Taiwan all the way through to a deputy mayor, Xinhuanet cited a Taiwan newspaper as saying.

Taiwan businessmen Wu Jinzhong, Zeng Qingzhao and Shen Huixiong, all affiliates with Taiwan Merchants Association in Xiamen, were invited to attend the Municipal People's Congress on January 18. "The local congress has set a precedent," Li Mengzhou, a Taiwan media veteran and businessman, said to the Want Daily.

Staying on such an ascending track, Taiwan native businessmen could have a shot at higher positions in Xiamen, even a deputy mayor, Li predicted.

Xiamen, only 2,310 meters away from Taiwan's Jinmen Island and deemed as the bridgehead of cross-Strait exchanges, is at the center of "Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone", a preferential region backed by the central government that includes all the provinces neighboring Taiwan and beyond.

The economic zone's ambition to integrate its costal economies and strengthen cooperation on all sides with Taiwan might have propelled the face-about in Xiamen congress, which will no doubt be highly watched as a test site on cross-Straits ties, the report said.

Adding to the intricacy is the ban on the eastern side of the Straits, where Taiwan authorities prohibit its citizens from taking any party, political or military positions on the Chinese mainland.