To what degree does the evidence of contemporary cross-strait relations support the view that Taiwan and Mainland China are experiencing not only economic but also political convergence?

Abstract

In 1949, after having lost the Chinese Civil War against the CPC, the Kuomintang retreated from Mainland China and established a government in Taipei, the largest city of the Taiwan Island, while continuing to claim its sovereignty over the whole China. At the same time, the People's Republic of China, created by the communists, started treating the Republic of China as a renegade and considering Taiwan as a legitimate part of their sovereignty.
From this period and until the 1990S, two different entities, ruled by different government faced each other, claiming that they were the legitimate governors of China. But with the international recognition of the PRC and after a democratisation of the regime, the ROC government stopped fighting for being sovereign over China and started claiming for recognition of its own legitimacy. Since the 1980's, a "status quo" about the Taiwanese situation has been maintained, not only by Taiwan but also by the PRC and the United States, involved in the Mainland- Taiwan relations as a mediator, because of all the economic and geopolitical implications an escalation of the conflict could generate. Actually, the losses for both sides would be enormous, partly due to the degree of economic interdependence linking the PRC and the ROC. The question is here to know if Mainland China and Taiwan are experiencing political convergence. Is a reunification possible in the future? Are there similar points in both sides views of the situation and could one model influence another? Could the economic and cultural cross strait links be a way of reaching a political agreement?