Cross-Straits discord may continue next year

Official exchanges between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have remained frozen since Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus after taking office in May 2016. And there is no sign of official talks resuming any time soon, as Tsai seeks to ally with the United States and Japan, instead of taking steps to improve cross-Straits ties.

Tsai has made few achievements in the one and a half years since assuming office, as she has been busy trying to "de-Sinicize" the island's institutions and political landscape, and her administration's ambivalence on the one-China policy has further strained cross-Straits ties.

Besides, Tsai is taking measures to shift the island's trade and economic relations away from the mainland to other economies, including some in Southeast Asia. In December 2016, she broke precedent by talking to then US president-elect Donald Trump on the phone, pushing cross-Straits ties to a new low.