Taiwan in the Middle
Robert «The Only Redhead», both in the comments and his post, uses Taiwan and the direct flights issue as an example of a twist of thinking that annoys me to no end, the continuum with no middle.On one end, there's politics; on the other, there's the economy. To use Robert's example, there's the neocons and their nationalist obsessions, and there's the business wonks and their neoliberal fantasies. Never do the two ends meet, politics and economy. And, if they do, in Taiwan, as Michael Turton has doggedly argued, the media spins it back into the ends.
Right now, it seems that China has gotten everything it wants out of the deal, and Taiwan’s gotten little, because the KMT isn’t willing to stand up and make sure that Taiwan gets its cut.
I can’t reiterate this enough. I’m not denying that the cross-strait flights are a good thing. While I certainly don’t think they they’ll be the economic boon that the KMT is claiming they will be, and I’m not alone, I have hope for moderate benefits, both financial and cultural. It’s just a shame that KMT was so ready to back down, not daring to demand the PRC compromise.
There can be two Chinas, or a China and a Taiwan, if the Taiwanese people so choose. Both can be successful trading partners, too. Taiwan is not beholden to those who want to an easier way to make money, or the arms merchants.
Anyway, I really like this blog!
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