Summary Box: Taiwan spurns Chinese overture
THE NEWS: A Chinese attempt to develop a special economic zone with joint Taiwan management has run afoul of the government in Taipei, which sees it as an attempt by Beijing to make political inroads on the democratic island.
THE IMPETUS: The Pingtan Experimental Zone, an industrial park to be built on a fishing village in China's Fujian Province, faces Taiwan across the 100-mile Taiwan Strait. Beijing is touting it as an opportunity for Taiwan businesspeople to jointly manage, develop and operate the project.
THE BACKGROUND: Despite the countries' split amid civil war six decades ago, China continues to regard Taiwan as part of its territory and is committed to bringing the island of 23 million people back into the fold.
