One China: Beijing should seek to strengthen common ties with Taipei

Beijing should have been mollified that President Tsai Ing-wen said all the appropriate things at Taiwan's National Day celebrations last week. She spoke of speeding up economic reform and safeguarding the island's democracy and freedoms.

On the economy, there was a pledge to resolve concerns over the "five shortages" (referring to land, electricity, water, labour, and talent) raised by the private sector. The tax code is being overhauled. Housing and care for the elderly was emphasised; about 30,000 social housing units had been planned and under construction and 720 community and care centres were already running. She wanted further improvements to judicial efficiency with changes to the judicial processes and courts' structure so that litigation can be handled in a timely manner.

These aspects of her administration's agenda need to be noted and given due weight because much of what was reported about the event zeroed in on her remarks pertaining to cross-strait relationship. Yes, she was careful to avoid saying anything that might upset the hawks on the mainland; the old path of her independence-minded Democratic People's Party with a penchant for confrontation with the mainland was over and she vowed to maintain her commitment to the status quo. In fact, she put out much the same message last year. No doubt, this time it was to avoid provoking Beijing ahead of the Communist Party's congress this week.