Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has assured the United States that he will not push for independence from mainland China during the rest of his term.
Mr. Chen met with the new U.S. envoy to Taiwan, Stephen Young, Tuesday. He said there will be “no more surprises.”[/quote]
The USA has taught the pan-Green puppet president to speak proper Chinese. So once again Taiwan is part of the Mainland…at least for the rest of CSB term.
If you disagree, please do so in a non-surprised and unalarmed fashion.
[quote]The Pentagon is moving strategic bombers to Guam and aircraft carriers and submarines to the Pacific as part of a new “hedge” strategy aimed at preparing for conflict with China, Pentagon officials said yesterday.
Peter Rodman, assistant defense secretary for international security affairs, told a congressional commission that the response to the emerging military threat from China is part of the White House national security strategy made public yesterday.
Although U.S. relations with China are good, “both sides understand very well that there is a potential for a conflict, particularly in the Taiwan Strait,” Mr. Rodman said during a hearing of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.
China’s arms buildup in recent years altered the U.S. “strategic calculus” for defending Taiwan from a mainland attack and shows that “a prudent hedging policy is essential,” Mr. Rodman said.
The placement of about 700 Chinese missiles opposite Taiwan has changed the status quo between the non-communist island and the communist mainland, he said.
The Pentagon policy calls for watching China’s military and “being ready to deal with it, if the worst case should happen,” Mr. Rodman said.[/quote]
Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian has assured the United States that he will not push for independence from mainland China during the rest of his term.
Mr. Chen met with the new U.S. envoy to Taiwan, Stephen Young, Tuesday. He said there will be “no more surprises.”[/quote]
The USA has taught the pan-Green puppet president to speak proper Chinese. So once again Taiwan is part of the Mainland…at least for the rest of CSB term.
If you disagree, please do so in a non-surprised and unalarmed fashion.[/quote]
The same Stephen Young taught the slow-learning CSB that the NUC was, to quote, “in abeyance.” CSB couldn’t quarrel with this most agreeable of lessons, even if he knew that the slowest of nutjobs would now discover that he had actually been doing this for two months:
CSB and Young:
The photo of CSB above reminds me of this other one:
[quote=“twocs”]My vote is for CSB waving the independence flag once he’s out of office.[/quote]CSB has about 1/100th the personal charm and cult of personality that Lee Tung-hui has. And even LTH has had a minimal impact on Taiwanese + cross-strait politics.
I agree. He can wave the flag if he wants to, but I don’t think many people will notice. He’s managed to alienate just about everyone so far, from the pan blues to the green moderates to the diehard independence guys. He’s the very epitome of a lame duck.
I agree. He can wave the flag if he wants to, but I don’t think many people will notice. He’s managed to alienate just about everyone so far, from the pan blues to the green moderates to the diehard independence guys. He’s the very epitome of a lame duck.[/quote]
True. But there’s one big difference: CSB will almost certainly wield huge power within the DPP after 2008. LTH’s opinion doesn’t have much sway in KMT circles nowadays …
I agree. He can wave the flag if he wants to, but I don’t think many people will notice. He’s managed to alienate just about everyone so far, from the pan blues to the green moderates to the diehard independence guys. He’s the very epitome of a lame duck.[/quote]
True. But there’s one big difference: CSB will almost certainly wield huge power within the DPP after 2008. [/quote]
But so what? The way he’s going, the DPP will have become so fragmented and impotent by the time Ma’s in the Presidential Office that the next legislative elections will see an even bigger pan blue majority and Chen’s influence or lack thereof in the DPP will be of little consequence.
That’s kind of my point: who cares whether he screws up the DPP completely? Well I’d have thought quite a few people. For all Taiwan’s faults it is a functioning two-party democracy - which is much better than the alternative.
If, when the DPP lose in 2008, Chen leads them down a fundamentalist better-to-die-independent path then Taiwan will be poorer for it. A democracy is usually only as good as it’s opposition party - which kind of explains Taiwan’s current situation
That’s kind of my point: who cares whether he screws up the DPP completely? Well I’d have thought quite a few people. For all Taiwan’s faults it is a functioning two-party democracy - which is much better than the alternative.
If, when the DPP lose in 2008, Chen leads them down a fundamentalist better-to-die-independent path then Taiwan will be poorer for it. A democracy is usually only as good as it’s opposition party - which kind of explains Taiwan’s current situation[/quote]
But don’t you think that might lead to cooler heads prevailing and a more rational and moderate DPP faction coming to the forefront as normal people get more and more pissed off with Chen and the party’s maniac fringes and the way they’ve fucked up the party, the country and the administration? That’s what I hope for, at least.
Well maybe. I guess it’s a question of how long it takes - and in particular whether (or how much) Chen gets in the way of DPP changes. Here’s the problem as I see it:
December Local elections, the people say: “You’re incompetent and corrupt, so we’re not voting for you”
January, Chen replies: “OK. I’ll abolish the NUC.”
I’ve got a feeling the same thing will happen in 2008: if the post-mortem has to decide whether the failure was due to a poor performance over the last 8 years or ‘not playing the China card strongly enough’ which option is a CSB-dominated DPP going to plump for? They’re hardly likely to learn from their mistakes and grow up while the man responsible for those mistakes is still pulling the strings …
I think there will be widepread fury in the DPP with Chen when the KMT takes even more seats in the 2007 legislative elections, which will be made even worse when Ma takes the presidency in 2008.
The DPP will need a scapegoat and will be in no position to “boycott” the KMT in the legislature. I think Chen will be that scapegoat. (But what do you call a scapegoat when the scapegoat actually deserved what he’s getting? is he still a scapegoat?)
