Taishang in China

The growing business linkages between China and Taiwan are certainly apparent, as are the increasing numbers of Taiwanese businessmen who had made their presence felt on the mainland, especially within Shanghai and its surrounding areas.

These growing linkages had in turn raised a related concern that Beijing could use the growing interdependence as a form of leverage for political blackmail and coercion.

But not so, according to T. J. Cheng in an article titled "China-Taiwan Economic Linkage: Between Insulation and Superconductivity."

According to Cheng, there is no reason to assume that having business interests in China "ipso facto" makes Taishang (Taiwanese business people) an active pro-unification force.

"Moreover, even those Taishang who feel particularly at home in China realize that they can gain most when the governments across the Strait are divided and in competition for their loyalty."

Cheng also argued that given the choice between Beijing and Taipei, Taishang are more inclined to give their loyalty to the latter.