ABSTRACT
Cross-Strait relations have seen remarkable change over the last 20 years. 1 With the intensification of economic interaction between China and Taiwan and an increasing number of Taiwanese entrepreneurs (Taishang) investing in labour-intensive and, subsequently, high-tech industries, cross-Strait migration in both directions has risen steadily as well. Since the late 1980s, a growing number of Taiwanese citizens, among whom entrepreneurs and factory managers with their families are the most visible ‘Taiwanese compatriots’, have taken up permanent residence on the Chinese mainland. In the more recent past, many Taiwanese students and young professionals went to China in pursuit of careers that were no longer believed to be available in Taiwan. China’s dynamic economy, with its lower production costs and a plethora of well-paid jobs situated in what is perceived to be an attractive business environment, will certainly attract the Taiwanese work force for years to come, irrespective of noticeable structural changes in the Chinese economy, which may eventually cancel out China’s current comparative advantages. 2 This sub-official dynamic obviously spurs economic and social integration across the Taiwan Strait.
