re: The huge benefits of soft power
It's good they are moving in that direction, but Taiwan doesn't have a similar kind of relations as say Belgium and France. And considering the direction the Chinese leadership of Taiwan wanted to take for China was similar to the direction present day China is taking for China- "face" and/or pride is about only real barrier to peaceful relations. In other words, with the right kind of dancing it shouldn't be a problem unresolvable by soft power. Now, maybe it will take a decade to happen, but I haven't seen any kind of break through which could indicate this is strongly headed in this direction.