! F- d' d3 \1 P& ]6 R$ t但是，反对党认为，必须更加重视国内的担忧。总统治国业绩怎么样？他们当然会说了----根本就不怎么样。* Z9 }, h( @+ k# G& P( ?
“大陆需要我们”0 t$ N! ?+ Y7 P! f, T" \, T
. c0 k) `8 a) B, B& @! j
采访结束后，戴先生领我到外面的大鱼池去参观。我们沿着两个鱼池间窄窄的田埂漫步。0 \) l+ F5 H2 m; l2 |: W# e, _/ ^2 c
7 w$ \: G% }7 ]. r1 A
鱼场的一个工人正在往水中投撒小鱼。顷刻之间，从水底的深处，怪物出动了。有些石斑鱼身形巨大。- F% m% H" l, y" ~6 Q7 k6 w
' C" o3 R6 I0 L" ^5 i: O
石斑鱼争夺着吞吃小鱼，池中水花飞溅，犹如战场。% a% {0 j3 d+ d: x: ~
+ J7 w9 Y+ A* a8 s" c, k
戴先生警告我，“如果你掉进去，他们会咬你一口。他们不会吃掉你，但是，肯定要尝尝你的味道”。* m h1 s7 f3 G# u w
8 ~6 N( a0 K" g/ A
人们很容易会把台湾比作一条小鱼。这个只有2300万人的小岛，面临着被拥有13亿人的强大的中国大陆一口吞下去的危险。 # Q* w/ R- _# Q/ n9 N 4 J" z" t$ |+ m3 C4 k1 d: h但是，作为一名商人，戴先生并不同意这样的比喻。 8 P5 d" j( x9 X! } - R* ~. F6 N: M. x2 [他说，“他们需要我们，他们需要我们的产品”。# i0 @/ ~. Q& R$ y' M* u9 D
; I, Z/ H" a( d ]; u, E
他本人和其他一些台湾商人抓住了一个从大陆赚钱的机会，发了财，对此，戴先生非常自豪。; N9 H: E3 E# s- P) `
" U _; p- p: e- I# I$ P
对他来说，事实很明显。台湾要比北京和其他人想象的更为强健。/ X& e' D! u! A2 o' w/ a
: ~% { n3 v( C! A( F% N* ?3 i7 Z0 r3 W5 F8 z5 Y4 f 5 [" o: q) b8 y# t+ t7 F* j& f
石斑鱼是大陆和香港的饗客特别喜爱的美食。 5 t6 h+ M8 d M& P6 o5 G+ f& }/ R$ y+ l* ]
Taiwan fish farmers make most of China trade deal3 [2 }1 l. w) F% C) o. w4 i" F
, K* }& {7 r/ A5 y9 N9 k" q' q' gChina is making it easier for its citizens to visit Taiwan but, after years of tension between the two countries, are the Taiwanese impressed by Beijing's efforts to win friends and influence? ) V/ k5 Z, S6 U, [: S" Z+ j! h/ B: o, d9 R8 a. I) o
It is always uncomfortable to be stared at, even more so while you are conducting an interview and when that stare seems cold and unblinking. # O0 E* U" m8 G# ^5 B$ d: v) Z0 K" x. \2 P1 b$ Q5 {0 L: v8 j
This time, the stare came from the kind of giant fish tank you see only in the lairs of James Bond villains, encased in concrete, covering one wall of the living room. , e0 |! Z* K ^7 L- ~1 s5 P9 }' A! _0 H$ ?; K1 z; q. A, c2 G
Behind the glass were two monsters - carnivorous fish each more than 1m (3ft) long. . J* K% R( ~# Y( j2 r# l: M- V& T0 j2 g
I was here to meet Tai Kun-tsai (no villain in fact, although he did confess to a former life as a smuggler of giant groupers). ' A7 C( b- }1 H) L$ j$ x( u1 E9 r% X, c( k" A
The fish who were giving me such a hard time were inside the tank. $ n& M1 c+ f" l4 b. _) L ) F0 s8 ]4 g C& s5 eThe grouper's flesh is prized by the gourmet diners of China and Hong Kong. / _; ]% }7 z% M! g# Y& H# D6 `5 D0 Q: y; q0 t8 _
They like to select the fish themselves from a restaurant's tanks so that it can be despatched with a swift blow from a cleaver and steamed at the peak of its freshness. + U' ~, S3 z* ^7 h* s8 R6 z/ F: N & j$ f' k3 P0 E' `0 A$ G2 w5 gNew legitimacy ! O1 [9 R, u I9 u1 d: Z0 [& M5 E3 ]9 P; }% s1 O. o
Most of the waters off the coast of mainland China are too cold to raise the giant grouper.+ S: q! [' v) c" Z
. B1 x. R3 z1 j M4 Q
Here in Taiwan though, Mr Tai can rear them on his fish farm, using a secret breeding technique he has developed. Now he exports thousands of them to the mainland every year. % @: }( _6 b1 H* h+ \6 [ c* Z2 I; }5 q6 D3 d
I had come to talk to him about a trade agreement signed between China and Taiwan which came into force six months ago. . _* N( P8 w& c1 c# S : Z1 D) k! j, iIt is known by its initials - ECFA (the Economic Co-operation Framework Agreement). As part of the agreement, China abandoned its 13% tariff on imports of live fish. # u, n/ X% F7 }% Q; s7 D0 I5 C$ i1 a* |6 e
I wanted to know if this had improved Mr Tai's ability to make money. 2 Z' M' X- P( R9 j9 }; i3 t7 e0 w% Y6 k3 P! S& K
He fixed me with an unwavering stare - similar to the one I was getting from his fish. ) b! q# d8 I( ]: ]5 e3 w0 }) G/ i% ]7 \6 H" c
Then he smiled. "I used to have to smuggle my fish into the mainland," he said, "but under ECFA, everything became more legitimate."9 u! T1 H ^; c7 ^
7 |" f# q7 l+ F8 @0 W$ rHe told me China could produce just one in 10 of the giant groupers it now needs for its growing market. As China gets richer, this is a delicacy more and more mainlanders want to enjoy.$ [/ R. U+ _% C6 }( q5 W" ^1 ~% f
: I- v6 Y/ k$ u. W: y. ~Elections 1 u$ _* t3 h2 ~% u% E# Q( s ; t9 K' v: w/ ^ x6 D. s; Q: u3 BECFA is sometimes described as a ploy by the mainland to win friends in Taiwan, a place it has always claimed is part of the People's Republic of China and a historical anomaly that should be corrected by reunifying the island with the motherland, by force if necessary.! T4 u1 C: T$ \ A$ m
0 Q) M# T8 s! Q- W
But Mr Tai dismissed such talk.! Y* P4 e$ y4 K( R! q
" ]( S2 _8 {1 }2 R) m"These are not concessions they're giving us," he insisted. "Chinese consumers are the winners. They're getting my fish quicker, legally and more cheaply."+ I8 J- v O: E' f8 s% ^$ ?
% {$ P+ S9 k: P! Q2 _6 A; o
Taiwan is at the start of its election cycle. Voters will go to the polls to select a new president next January.% R! Z% j' Q+ L* c; ]* a% M
% i l$ ^' y! A3 B) O" w+ J8 D1 j7 }
The current president, Ma Ying-jeou, is a frequent visitor to Mr Tai's fish farm. ; y9 S7 j. Q8 E3 X 7 ^+ h! K& O: \It is a useful campaign stop in the south of the island, an area better known for supporting the opposition - the Democratic Progressive Party - who are sceptical of the current government's efforts to build bridges with the mainland. 7 l% a4 v y3 ]- O V: s- W! d& ~4 E. B9 r: Y
President Ma's nationalist government has spent the last three years thrashing out agreements that bind this island closer to the mainland. 1 b' |+ m L8 s3 l$ ?; s8 e2 \% `+ ?5 x" G
He is hoping they will prove enough to convince voters to give him a second term.8 O' F/ e/ r" L6 M! D5 Q; {% M( z
. s% M5 M* }$ \6 I# }He will play on fears that, if voters hand power to the opposition, the economic benefits his policies have created will be put at risk. " d1 A/ e m! o. M# H2 U 0 V0 _1 b$ Z! n6 T; wBut the opposition believes that domestic concerns should be given more importance. : q0 m# m& ^" y5 @2 ]: {% K! G0 ~+ s. v
How well has the president run Taiwan? Their answer - of course - not very well at all. 3 [5 a, `0 Q; p, G: y1 e% G + A3 n5 K' ]+ i! u'China needs us'7 J- O! o7 y) R9 D8 g7 V
. l1 K- X5 J; }' b# f
Our interview over, Mr Tai took me outside to the giant pools where his fish are raised. " ^! Y3 g N5 X 1 I) N* A' j) c+ `& V( L" q! k6 tWe walked along a narrow ledge between two of them. " |9 W4 N% ~' |) [% s: W* b4 \: t+ J8 Y; P1 ]
One of his staff was tossing smaller fish into the water. Swiftly from the depths, the monsters rose, some of them huge. 9 L9 J8 o! Q, {, | j) o l, A9 V0 QIt was a frenzy with much thrashing around as they fought amongst themselves for a bite.% M8 M2 f$ Z' k/ x! ], T8 c3 o
1 C9 ^2 `# T4 f5 u9 B+ C5 y"If you fell in now," he warned me, "they'd each take a bite out of you. They wouldn't eat you, but they'd have a taste."! k: b" c6 ^1 T; {* j% u
+ `, I! x3 A% P/ T7 s+ b
It is easy to portray Taiwan as small fry, an island of 23 million people at risk of being gobbled up by the 1.3bn strong, mainland China. 3 Q- R. y6 h; e, {$ Z$ W2 P6 B* s3 I
But as a businessman Mr Tai, does not agree with that kind of analogy. 3 [/ G9 K( x0 n) j6 Y+ D- v' L( ^2 X, i! r* M
"They need us, they need our products," he says. - @9 A& j4 {' v9 j$ }+ Y/ w) k/ f/ v% _# i* _5 `$ z
He is proud of the way he and other Taiwanese businessmen have spotted opportunities to make money from mainland China, and become wealthy as a result. 5 N( T5 ?' k7 i" k& h6 m9 F1 H2 f' K% U
For him the lesson is clear. Tiny Taiwan is stronger than Beijing or others might think.
% N* ?3 i7 Z0 r3 W5 F8 z5 Y4 f
5 [" o: q) b8 y# t+ t7 F* j& f