Taiwan's new president means business - from China

By Ralph Jennings

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Anthony Liao is hiring speakers of minor Chinese dialects at his Taipei travel agency, studying new destinations and ensuring a supply of buses as he gears for a surge of tourists from China, a relative rarity until now.

His Phoenix Tours International Ltd. agency is just one of hundreds of companies, airports and local governments equipping themselves for closer ties with China under president-elect Ma Ying-jeou, who takes office on Tuesday.

"We have to prepare for the arrival of mainland Chinese, as they've got a different mentality," said Liao. "Mainland China wants quality guarantees."

His industry is awaiting a much-touted tourism deal that would open Taiwan to 1.1 million Chinese tourists per year and launch regular cross-strait flights, helping to jump-start the service sector.

Liao's frantic, extensive preparations are typical of industries around the island, which are getting ready to receive Chinese property investors, currency traders and airlines if Ma fulfills his pledges to open trade links with China.

China has claimed sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communists won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists (KMT) fled to the island. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.

But a thaw in relations between the two sides over the past decades has led to heavy investment in China from Taiwan.

Lured by a common language, lower labor costs and a potentially huge consumer market, investors have poured an estimated $100 billion into the mainland.