Chen Shui Bien, the first president elected from the DDP party that ended 50 years of KMT one-party rule is up for re-election this month in a very nasty, closely fought battle. They will also be holding a referendum in regards to China's missiles, meaning Bush gets one more headache....
The Wash Post had a very good story on the land of my ancestors. and yes, the night markets rule!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A53676-2004Mar12.html
An article on what this means for US-China relations. Note the irony of Bush warning another leader on the bad effects of unilateral action!
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1101040322-600888,00.html
My parents have both left for Taiwan and will be voting in this election. A couple weeks ago on February 28, up to 2 million people held hands across the island to protest the saber-rattling from China and to commemorate the 2/28 massacre in 1947 where the KMT killed thousands of Taiwan's best and brightest. This protest got very little coverage in the US media, but it was, according to dad, one of the most moving days of his entire life. i think he just about cried. The Post article talks about Taiwanese students singing "We Shall Overcome." Hearing about the 2/28 massacre always reminds me that people never forget their history. we in the U.S. may not care that we once overthrew Mossadegh in Iran and installed the Shah, but people in Iran sure as hell remember, which accounted for in part the Iran hostage crisis. I remember years later reading about the US's action in Iran in 1953 and thinking, wow, if I were an iranian, i'd have held our guys hostage too to make sure they didn't tamper with the revolution.
Anyways, this is an important election, both for Taiwan and the US. 4 years ago, young people help put Ah-bien in office. the economy has been bad, so he has gotten a lot of heat for that. But the other guy is incredibly corrupt and the media is practically owned by the KMT. I'm not the pro-independence radical that dad is. I think Taiwan is doomed by geography. it's like the East's Cuba--an island 90 miles from a gigantic power. what ya gonna do? and Taiwan is lucky that China is not the US. if it was, Taiwan would have an economy strangled by sanctions and constant assassination attempts on any leader who defied the superpower's will. instead, they live in relative prosperity, with little poverty, universal health care (installed in 1995), and gay marriage will probably be legalized sometime soon. I might have to move if Bush wins re-election.