ABSTRACT
Political relations between Taiwan and China have always been fragile. This strained relationship has never been more apparent than during the last 40 years of quarrelling over self-determination issues. Still, a rapprochement between Taiwan and China has shown erratic progress in the past ten years. The Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA 2009) put forth by Taiwan’s Kuomintang (KMT) administration under President Ma Ying-jeou represents a significant initiative which aims to improve relations between Beijing and Taipei (Cooke 2009). Since the global financial crisis of 2008, both governments are experiencing pressures highlighting the importance of strengthening trade cooperation to safeguard their respective economies. Additionally, recent non-traditional security challenges – such as environmental issues, climate change, energy problems, terrorism, and contagious diseases – call for cooperation between the two countries.
