Striving for New Equilibria Alan D. Romberg

As Beijing moved through the winter to establish the new state leadership at the 12th National People’s Congress (NPC) and its companion meeting, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), in March 2013, PRC officials continued to stress policy consistency toward Taiwan along lines laid out in the context of the 18th Party Congress held in November 2012.1 They expressed growing confidence that, as cross- Strait relations had already entered a “period of consolidation and deepening” (鞏固、深化期), and as the PRC’s growing national power earned it greater international influence, they had the ability to take more initiative in managing cross-Strait development and to cope with foreign “interference” in cross-Strait relations in a calm manner.2 That said, as one PRC legal scholar pointed out, the central issue regarding Taiwan is “the problem of the Republic of China.” That is both a political issue and a legal issue and at present, he noted, there is no solution.3 The newly appointed head of the Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun, underscored the point when he stated, “as viewed from any perspective, there is no possibility the Mainland will accept the ‘Republic of China’”
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