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With the increase of cross-Strait economic activity, the interaction between Taiwanese business people and the Chinese government has gradually changed. As Taiwanese investment grew in volume, so did the number and frequency of contacts between the parties; a more institutionalised form regulating these contacts was established as a result. Nowadays Taiwanese businessmen have become an identifiable factor in Chinese governmental policy implementation; the process also has far-reaching implications. This paper argues that Taiwanese capital has become a Chinese governmental security asset and examines the importance of this factor when discussing conventional government/business interaction. This paper concludes that a superior national interest guides the warm welcome given by the Chinese government to Taiwanese businessmen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the formation of networked ceramic factories before the mid-eighteenth century in early modern China. Enquiring into the role of the state and private entrepreneurs in production innovation and design, it explores the notion of a 'factory'. In the context of large scale traditional production in East Asia, I periodize the evolving organizational structure of China's model of ceramic production and discuss two aspects of the state's negotiation with regional commercial kilns: 1) the impact on kiln structures and the exploitation of raw materials such as porcelain stones and colour pigment, and 2) an early modern design system which simultaneously regulated aesthetic forms, technological experiments, and fiscal planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]