China, Taiwan in the News this week.

The fallout from the recent Pentago report, which appears at least in part to promote the sale of militarily useless but politically necessary weapons to Taiwan, is still being felt. The Taipei Times headlined an article yesterday saying that analysts believe a peaceful solution to the Taiwan Straits crisis is not possible. Hey, no shit. I've only been saying that for a decade now, and so have many others. The Taiwan-China problem is a circle that cannot be squared, unless China suddenly becomes a beacon of enlightenment.

The recent US report on China's military power and the growing military imbalance across the Taiwan Strait is aimed at shattering the idea that the cross-strait impasse can be solved peacefully, analysts said yesterday.

The analysts came to this conclusion after interpreting the US report's message and the Chinese government's reactions to it, adding that the report might dampen unificationist elements within Taiwan.

The paper also noted Hu's congratulations to his local lapdog James Soong on his victory in the election for PFP chairman. The election, which featured Soong getting some 99% of the vote as the only candidate, was truly one whose spirit Communist China could empathize with.

The paper also reported that China has refused to work with Taiwan authorities on internet crime, and featured another article on Chinese criminals and spies entering Taiwan.

[Taiwan] [China]