KMT Chairman to visit mainland, Missiles to visit Taiwan

It's so obvious that it almost doesn't need blogging on, but the new KMT Chairman, Wu Po-hsiung, is going to visit China at the end of the month.

"It is extremely likely that he will visit in late April," Kuan told The Associated Press during a visit to the eastern resort city of Hangzhou.

Wu, 67, won easily after the former chairman of the party, Ma Ying-jeou, resigned following his indictment on corruption charges. But Wu's election was also seen as a sign of support for Ma, who is still expected to be the party's candidate in next year's presidential race.

Kuan said Wu would hope to hold "substantive talks" with his Communist counterparts when he visits.

He said the Nationalists would like to hammer out a more concrete version of an agreement that paved the way for 1992 talks that were the first formal contact between Taiwan and China since they separated amid civil war in 1949.

Substantive talks! I get arguments that the KMT isn't cooperating with China because they used to be enemies, because "so many have died." Yet the first thing Wu does as Chairman is visit China for "substantive talks." The symbolism of the leader from abroad who visits China after being selected leader isn't lost on anyone here or in China: he goes to pay tribute to the masters in Beijing. If it isn't blindingly obvious that the KMT and the CCP are cooperating......no need to finish that sentence.

Media moment: note that the article still repeats the error that China and Taiwan were "separated" amid civil war ( formal sovereignty over the island in 1949 was actualy held by Japan, not China). The KMT and the CCP were separated, not Taiwan and China. The AP reporter's name is misspelled in article as Boodeen, not Boden.

Meanwhile the recent Council on Foreign Relations report says that the antisatellite missile test actually increased the threat to our fair island.

The antisatellite missile test China conducted in January increased the country's military threat to Taiwan by demonstrating a limited ability to blind U.S. satellites that would be deployed in defense of the island, according to a report released Tuesday.

"The test is a vivid example of how China's emerging military capabilities will complicate the strategic environment confronting U.S. forces for decades to come," the study said.

The report was sponsored by the Council on Foreign Relations, an independent private research group based in New York. It is titled "U.S.-China Relations: An Affirmative Agenda, A Responsible Course."

The CFR is a hugely important elite US Establishment think tank, and its commentary reflects what US elites would like to see.


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