Taiwanese academics should be careful what they wish for. By saying that Taiwan would only enter political negotiations with China on an ultimate solution to the cross-strait standoff if and when China democratizes, they are backing themselves into a corner that will be difficult to get out of, and that has quite a few pitfalls.
It is understandable that Taiwanese academics at a cross-strait forum recently held by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) would use this tactic as a stalling action for entering political talks with Beijing. After all, it does not look likely that China will become a democracy anytime soon, and placing this as a prerequisite for political talks is a surefire way to put those talks on the back burner.
