Could visit to Taiwan by mainland Chinese academics be first hint of a cross-strait thaw?

A recent visit to Taiwan by two prominent mainland Chinese academics to meet their counterparts on the island has prompted speculation that it may open the way for unofficial exchanges between affiliates of the Beijing and Taipei governments.

However, some analysts have expressed scepticism and suggested that the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) may be trying to create a misleading impression about the prospect of holding formal talks with Beijing.

Yan Anlin, the academic committee director of the Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, and Sheng Jiuyuan, director of the Centre for Taiwan Studies at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, were granted approval by Taiwanese authorities to visit the island between January 5 and 10.

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council, which oversees cross-strait policies, confirmed they were visiting on January 9 after local media reported that the pair had met representatives of two Taiwanese think tanks, one of which is reportedly linked to the DPP.

“They are indeed in Taiwan. It is our position that exchanges between think tanks on both sides are beneficial for mutual understanding,” Liang Wen-chieh, a spokesman for the council, said.

He added that the council would “make proper arrangements for interactions [to address] concrete issues”, but declined to disclose specific details of their discussions.

  

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