Local news reports indicate China is pushing Taiwan harder on a peace accord that would abolish any attempt by Taiwan “secessionists” to abandon unification and declare independence. However, unless China reduces and/or eliminates the 1,500 short-range ballistic missiles targeting Taiwan, any deal looks unlikely.

According to the Talk of the Day, as reported by the Central News Agency, China is pushing beyond the dozen or so economic and trade agreements signed since 2008 to something more political in nature.

Sun Ya-fu, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office under China’s State Council, publicly urged the two sides at a seminar on December 15 in Taipei to sign a peace accord to “jointly share the duty and obligation of avoiding national secession.”

Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Deputy Minister Chang Hsien-yao responded by urging China to treat the existence of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in a “pragmatic manner.”