ABSTRACT
The cross-Taiwan Strait rappro chement since 2008 has brought peace and
st ability to the Taiwan Strait after years of tension and confrontation. Substan-
tive dialogues were resumed in June 2008 and even institutionalized with direct
participation by government officials in cross-Strait dialogues. Representing the
two sides of the Taiwan Strait, the Association for Relations across the Taiwan
Strait (ARATS) and Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF ) have signed 15 agree-
ments in the last three years, ranging from three direct links, public health, food
safety, and tourism to a comprehensive trade liberalization agreement – the Eco-
nomic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). The series of economic
accords, together with the rapid expansion of personnel exchanges and social
contacts, have helped to create a new level of comfort and mutual confidence
across the Taiwan Strait. All these achievements, however, have been realized
on the basis of the ambivalent 1992 consensus, a tacit agreement defining the
political status of the two sides of the Strait and the nature of their relationship.
