DALTON TANONAKA, CNN ANCHOR, BIZASIA: Politics is clashing with big business again across the Taiwan Strait. Beijing is speaking out for the first time since Taiwan said it would lift the ban on direct trade with the mainland. And as CNN's Jaime FlorCruz reports, it's standing firm on the one- China policy</s>JAIME FLORCRUZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Not so fast, that seems to be Beijing's response to Taipei's latest gambit. In a commentary carried by state television and newspapers, Beijing rejected direct links, unless Taipei embraces the one-China principle and cross-strait reunification talks resume. Beijing's cautious response resonates in the street.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE  (through translator): We should open direct links, but Taiwan is Chinese territory. We should be patient and go step by step.</s>FLORCRUZ: Mainland analysts say Chinese leaders have good reasons to be skeptical.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mainland China has been cheated by Lee Teng-Hui and the Taiwanese authority for the last 10 years. They really doubt whether this Taiwanese are true or just lip service. So they need to wait and see whether they implement what they said or just give lip service after a few months and then they forget it.</s>FLORCRUZ: Beijing thinks it enjoys the upper hand. Taiwanese investors are attracted to the mainland's business-friendly environment. Here they get cheap laborers who speak the same dialect, tax-holidays and low-cost land. Despite Taipei's 50-year ban, Taiwan investors, since the late 1980s, have poured $60 billion into the mainland. (on camera): Without Beijing's goodwill and cooperation, Taipei's contingency plans to lift its sagging economy by boosting business in the mainland will not go very far. Beijing's message is: You can't partake of the mainland's business without talking reunification. Jaime FlorCruz, CNN, Beijing.
Beijing Cautious in Response to Taipei's Latest Gambit