From the Taipei Times: State of a hemmed-in nation.

     This is one fine editorial, I sympathize greatly with Taiwan, she has been betrayed by her protector and denied the basic recognition that is the right of every sovergein government, of which Taiwan's certainly is.  It is heartening to see that despite her difficult situation Taiwan continues to mature and develop as free and democratic nation, in stark contrast to the illegitimate and repessive regieme across the strait.

     We noted last year that beyond the hardware, these nationalist displays have a hollow core and that nationalism is ill-served by symbols and rhetoric that simply serve as face-saving mechanisms for organs of state. Meanwhile, the alternative -- that Taiwan is part of China and the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is the natural party to rule all of China -- is so discredited now that even chunks of the KMT cannot bring themselves to spout it in public.

     By and large, however, Taiwan is chugging along nicely, with solid economic credentials and growth, even if inflationary pressures are building. Shunting aside media hyperbole, Taiwan remains one of the safest countries in the world, with encouraging standards of education, growing (if erratically distributed) income and a good international reputation in various sectors.

     In recent years the picture of Taiwan in the international eye has bounced back and forth between the predatory neuroses of China and the political mandates of competing foreign-affairs factions in the US -- the balance of which has not helped Taiwan to expand its global space.

This an excellent piece of writing go read the whole thing, go on read it all here

Posted by: raging tachikoma at 01:50 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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