See
this Washington Post article about the signing of a trade treaty between China and Taiwan. As the article notes:
U.S. officials have said they view the deal as a sign of improving relations between Beijing and Taipei, and another sign that China appears less likely to use force in an attempt to unite with the island.
And therefore less likely to drag the U.S. into war defending Taiwan's independence. The treaty is also important because:
The mainland has already signed similar free trade agreements with the 10 member-nations of ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and Beijing is in talks for similar deals with South Korea and Japan. None of those countries would negotiate similar arrangements with Taiwan -- which is diplomatically isolated in the region -- unless it had first reached its own deal with China.
