<bmoore@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:5af4e7be-d97c-4637-908a-ca8e0eae5974@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/world/asia/12taiwan.html?ref=world
> TAIPEI, Taiwan -- No matter who wins Taiwan's fiercely contested
> presidential election on March 22, the fervent independence movement
> that has so agitated relations with mainland China in recent years
> seems destined to suffer a significant setback.
> Both candidates, Ma Ying-jeou and Frank Hsieh, want closer ties with
> Beijing, differing only in how quickly and to what degree they would
> strengthen relations. By calling for closer economic cooperation with
> China and rejecting any notions of separatism, they are repudiating
> the tough nationalist policies of the departing president, Chen Shui-
> bian, whose confrontational stance has angered officials in Beijing
> and Wa****ngton and has stirred anxiety among many Taiwanese.
>
I cannot envisage an "independent" Taiwan as a "country" totally
ripped
away from China. The Chinese people as a whole on both sides of the
Straits
will not allow it. On the other hand, neither can I envisage Taiwan's
giving
up her decades' having achieved a democratic form of government away from
Communism. The Chinese government is not unaware of this, and will take
all
measures to avoid any form of military confrontation to unite Taiwan with
China, unless of course they were to be pushed too far by the extremists
who
clamour for "independence". I can foresee an even greater economic
cooperation between China and Taiwan to the point of Taiwan's being
dependent on China, at which point, the Chinese government will propose a
concept of "One China, Two Governments", allowing Taiwan to have her own
form of autonomous government, but giving up the identity of being a
separate entity in the global recognition of China. Unfortunately we also
have to take into consideration foreign intervention, which can prevent
this
from happening.
J.
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