A Taiwanese academic's attempt to sketch a workable version of Beijing's "one country, two systems" plan for Taiwan has been dismissed by Taipei as something China would never accept — a negative sign for anyone hoping for a negotiated deal.

• A Changhua University of Education professor published three essays proposing Taiwan sign a peace and autonomy pact with Beijing while keeping its own democratic system.
• His conditions: no change to Taiwan's elections, final say over its own courts, no Chinese troops on the island, Taiwan keeps its own defense forces, and any deal must pass Taiwan's legislature and a public vote.
• Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council says Beijing would not agree to a single one of those terms, because China's plan is to apply the Hong Kong model — unify first, deal with objections later.
• The professor's own fix — writing Taiwan's special status into China's constitution — was called useless, since the Communist Party writes that constitution and answers to no one under it.
• Beijing's Taiwan Affairs Office had just restated that unification is not optional for Taiwanese people.

Outlook: With both sides talking past each other, Taipei's line is that Taiwan must defend its own democracy rather than count on promises from Beijing.