TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Taiwan’s relationship with China is a key topic in this week’s presidential election as President Ma Ying-jeou of the China-friendly Nationalist Party prepares to hand over power, possibly to the candidate of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party. A look at some of the major issues affecting the election:
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CHINA: Beijing continues to regard Taiwan as part of China and threatens to use force against the island if it formalizes its de facto independence. Fears of an invasion have been overtaken in recent years by concerns over the gradual rise in China’s influence over Taiwan’s high-tech economy. Despite a series of economic agreements offered as inducements, support for unification continues to slip, with the vast majority favoring a continuation of the status quo. Surveys also show that a declining number of Taiwanese consider themselves Chinese at all.
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THE ECONOMY: Economic growth in 2015 is believed to have been less than 1 percent. Wages are stagnant, and the economy of China, which absorbs around 30 percent of Taiwan’s exports, is sputtering. Meanwhile, generous state pensions are taking up more than 7 percent of the overall government budget, although public debt remains at a relatively low 34 percent of GDP. The Taiwan Research Institute recently predicted the economy this year could grow by slightly more than 2 percent, partly on the basis of a stronger U.S. economy.