There Oughtta Be Law....

One funny thing about this otherwise forgettable BBC report on Lien Chan's visit to China this week is this comical remark that ends this, and is found in many other reports on the Cross-Strait situation:

Last year Beijing passed a law to allow the use of force if Taiwan formally declares independence. China has more than 700 missiles targeted at Taiwan.

The earnest manner in which this is reported masks the utter fatuousness of the underlying idea -- was China not allowed to use force before? What a ridiculous idea!

[Taiwan] [China]