“Compatriots on both sides are part of the same family,” Wang Yi, head of China's Taiwan Affairs Office said. “We feel the same pain.” Not half. Taiwan, along with other parts of the Chinese diaspora like Hong Kong and Singapore, accounts for the majority of foreign direct investment into China. Taiwan's share clocks in at about 7 per cent in the 15 years to 2004, or more on the assumption some is routed through Hong Kong. Taiwanese manufacturers headed across the Straits in search of cheaper land and wages and are now reckoned to have invested some $150bn in China.
如何贏得朋友，影響眾人？第一步：付錢給他們。隨著中國富裕起來，它越來越善于開展“支票簿外交”。這使多邊機構頭疼，這些機構擔心，自己那種附帶條件放貸的做法，被那些要求不那么苛刻的施舍所破壞，比如在非洲就出現了這種情況。如今，金融危機正帶來更為誘人的機會。離圣誕節只有幾天之際，北京向臺灣提供190億美元貸款，自1949年中國內戰結束以來，臺灣與中國大陸處于分治狀態，北京宣稱對臺灣擁有主權。中國國有銀行奉命向大陸臺商提供貸款，此外中國大陸還將拿出20億美元采購臺灣制造的平板顯示器。