(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Taiwan's warmer relations with China were called into question yesterday after the island's Beijing-friendly ruling party suffered its worst-ever polls defeat in local elections, sparking the resignation of Premier Jiang Yi-huah.
The rout came as the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party struggles to combat public fears of China's growing influence, as well as a slowing economy and a string of food scandals.
Seen as a barometer before presidential elections in 2016, the poll results may now force the KMT to re-examine its China policy - and encourage the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), which is traditionally Beijing-sceptic.
"The KMT are not likely to push the ties (with China) forward if they hope not to suffer another huge setback in the 2016 presidential race," Ding Shuh-fan, a professor at National Chengchi University in Taipei, told AFP.
"At the same time China is also unlikely to make concessions and offer substantial economic benefits in talks" given the prospect of the DPP taking power in 2016, Ding added. "It would be hard for cross-strait ties to move forward in the year ahead."
Beijing called for "continued efforts for peaceful cross-strait relations" in the wake of the vote. "We hope compatriots across the strait will cherish hard-won fruits of cross-strait relations, and jointly safeguard and continue to push forward peaceful development of cross-strait relations," said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office.
Taiwan and China split in 1949 at the end of a civil war, but Beijing still claims the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification - by force if necessary. Tensions rose markedly during the presidency of the DPP's Chen Shui-bian from 2000-2008.
Since KMT President Ma Ying-jeou came to power in 2008 on a China-friendly platform, frosty ties have warmed, leading to a tourist boom of Chinese visitors to Taiwan as well as expanded trade links. But there is public anxiety at the closer relationship. A proposed services trade pact with the mainland sparked mass student-led protests and a three-week occupation of Taiwan's parliament earlier this year.
"The Ma administration has been too reliant on China economically," said 32-year-old designer Tom Shen in Taipei.
"Many people fear that Taiwan will have to do as Beijing orders in the future."
Two months of democracy rallies in Hong Kong could also have strengthened anti-Beijing sentiment, said Chang Wu-ueh, director of Tamkang University's Graduate Institute of China Studies in Taipei.
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