China licks its wounds as Taiwan holds firm

[dArKeR]

By Wang Dan ??

Thursday, Apr 08, 2004,Page 8

The clearest signal sent by the presidential election is that mainstream opinion in Taiwan has changed. The pan-green camp's vote has jumped from 40 percent in 2000 to 50 percent this year, showing that a feeling of Taiwanese identity has expanded.

The Chinese Communist Party had always placed its hope in the people of Taiwan, but this election has shown that the Tai-wanese people are neither interested in nor willing to accept Beijing's policy of "one country, two systems." Mainstream opinion here is now heading in the opposite direction, away from unification. In other words, China's hopes for support from the Taiwanese have been dashed.

If Beijing and Washington were not convinced about this trend four years ago, then they should be now. They must deal with the reality of Taiwan. No matter how Beijing adjusts its policy, it is no longer possible to make "one country, two systems" the core of that policy.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2004/04/08/2003135846

[whirlygigspin]

1. navel gazing in Beijing

Unfortunately not everyone votes based on their feelings about China.

This is pure nonsense.