Political and Economic Analysis of the Cross-Strait Negotiation Mechanism, 1991-2015

Since the 1980s, Eastern European countries have gone through political and economic changes in response to dynamic international circumstances and domestic economic reforms. In the mid 1990s, moreover, they disintegrated the cold war blocs which had been formed after the Second World War. As for Taiwan and China, the political structures have also undergone major changes since the 1980s. In 1987, the Taiwan government lifted the ban on travel to China, marking a momentous milestone in cross-strait communication. In 1991, quasi-private intermediate organizations, the Straits Exchange Foundation of Taiwan and the Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits of China, were established. Over the past two decades, cross-strait relations, political and economic climate in the Asia-Pacific region, and party politics and democratic progress have all played a significant role in making an impact on negotiation patterns and policy-making of the cross-strait negotiation mechanism. This paper aims to study and analyze the cross-strait negotiation mechanism during 1991 and 2015 from Taiwan’s perspectives and refers to international negotiation mechanisms for comparison. The concept and practicality of the One China principle serve as the underlying thread that weaves through the main context of the paper. This study shows that the concept and practicality of the One China principle have been vividly present at the negotiation mechanism regardless of the ruling party. The practicality of the cross-strait negotiation mechanism should be able to provide feasible suggestions for policy-making based on the notion of overall governance.