I think that one China ought to be governed by the Taiwan Constitution with suitable modifications.

You see looked at correctly it is an excellent policy.

What have they died and suffered such grievous wounds for? To give hope (no, not hope – backbone) to MILLIONS who now may engage in the struggle to end the tyranny they suffer under. Not in Your Name?

As long as the current regime is in power on the mainland the government in Taiwan can’t declare independence. That is the only reason China can legally invade. When we signed onto the One China idea we doomed Taiwans ability to officially declare independence. They can rule themselves for a indefinite period as long as they don’t declare it openly. Taiwan can go to reconcilliation meetings and feign interest and keep the status qou.The absurdity of fact that Taiwan can only keep their freedom by not stating it publicly is too ironic to believe but that is the way it is. And as far as any economic or actual warfare with the US you can’t forget that this is a country that has had millions of self inflicted deaths this century and is perfectly capable of of submitting it’s populace to that fate again.

I also share your concerns. Red Chinaís leaders must save face. They seem to be more than willing to allow the Taiwanese to be free in de facto sense. Itís the de jure aspect that causes all the friction. I hope the citizens of Taiwan donít push the envelope too far.

One of the major reasons why war is unlikely between China and the United States is our economic interdependence. We desire their competitively priced items—and the Chinese have an estimated 100 million people earning their living producing exports sent to the USA. Nonetheless, I want everybody to take a chill pill. I am well reminded of Norman Angellís naÔve ìThe Great Illusion,î published in 1913. He advanced many economic reasons why the major powers would never go to war against each other. We all, of course, are well aware of what happened a year later. Take a look at the following link:

http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/1914m/illusion.html

I am certainly no expert, but I have read some Chinese history and they tend to be relatively irrational about issues of empire – the Yalu river and the 1978 invasion of Vietnam both show that China will not tolerate threats on its border (although it got whipped by Vietnam, so it is stuck with them). More recent Chinese actions towards North Korea show this same theme – they will not accept a unified Korea unless it is communist; not because they themselves are particularly communist, but because they want a malleable autocracy on their border for their own internal reasons.

The economic interties are indeed an important stablizing force, we hope! But the fascistic leadership has justified its existence partly on hostility towards Taiwan and a promise to re-unite it. This has served to divert attention from its own kleptocracy (and incompetent rule – wait until the Chinese banks are forced to become solvent!). But it has the proverbial tiger by the tail – creating a movement to take/hold Taiwan that threatens the leadership if they cannot satisfy it.