Ma Ying-"dove" Moves Taiwan Towards Unilateral Disarmament

The stories below published this weekend show that the new President of Taiwan, Ma Ying-"dove", as I have dubbed him, of the KMT Party is apparently trying to one-up (or is it one-down) former US President Jimmy Carter in the "dove" and National Security categories. Ma "dove" sees China through rose/blue/red colored glasses, seemingly unconcerned about defending Taiwan against an attack from the mainland, which of course will never happen if he gives away Taiwan's sovereignty to the Communist Chinese. In Western parlance his move would be considered traitorous warranting impeachment. Is it any wonder that the Taiwanese have taken to the streets, many calling for Ma's resignation.


Taiwan military maintains vigilance against China
The Associated Press
Published: August 29, 2008

HSINCHU, Taiwan: Seven Mirage fighter jets roared down the runway at a sun-dappled Taiwanese air force base Friday, a stark reminder that even as the island improves its ties with rival China, it maintains readiness for a military showdown with its old foe.

The exercise was part of a two-day show of force by the Taiwan military that also included the deployment of a Lafayette frigate off the southern Taiwanese coast and a drill by combat engineers on the northern part of the island.

Since taking office almost 100 days ago, President Ma Ying-jeou has turned the corner on his predecessor's aggressive anti-China stance, beginning regular direct flights across the 100-mile (160 kilometer) -wide Taiwan Strait and opening Taiwan's doors to significantly increased numbers of mainland tourists.

Ma also has vowed to seek a formal peace treaty peace with Beijing — the two sides split amid civil war in 1949 — and work toward reconciling his desire to conduct independent foreign relations for the island of 23 million people with China's insistence that Taiwan remain an integral part of its territory....Read full story...

Taiwan to cut military spending amid warming China ties: report

TAIPEI (AFP) — Taiwan plans to scale back its military spending in 2009 amid warming ties with rival China, it was reported Saturday.

Military spending will be 315.2 billion Taiwan dollars (10 billion US), a decline of 10.4 billion Taiwan dollars on this year, the United Daily News said, citing a draft budget pending parliament's approval.

It will account for 17.2 percent of next year's government budget, the report said, but the move has drawn criticism from opposition lawmakers....Read full story...

Report: Taiwan drops plan to develop missile that can hit China

Asia-Pacific News

Aug 31, 2008, 21:48 GMT

Taipei - Taiwan has dropped plans to develop cruise missiles that can reach China, seen as the country's ongoing efforts to seek peace with China, a newspaper reported Monday.

The United Daily News quoted an unnamed military official as saying that Taipei has dropped plans to develop cruise missiles that have a range of 1,000 kilometres.

Since Ma Ying-jeou from the China-friendly Chinese Nationalist Party took office on May 20, he has been promoting greater exchanges with China to ease cross-Strait tension...Read full story...

Sarah Palin vs. Barack Obama

Some on the left and right are saying that Sarah Palin does not have the experience to be Vice-President, that McCain has left the reservation on this decision. Here is a comparison of the top of the Democratic ticket with the bottom of the Republican ticket. Leaving the two senior Senators out of the picture, because they could be considered to cancel each other out in terms of experience, ask yourself which ticket has the right experience for the job. Click above on the title to this post to view the comparison.

Followup: Gov. Sarah Palin for Veep

To read the original post, click here --> Freedom Ain't Free: Gov. Sarah Palin for Veep

I'm not adept at picking stocks and I don't gamble on sports, or anything for that matter. So I figure my political prognosticating might fare similarly.

So when, via this blog and a cross post to the Travis Monitor, I "advised" Senator McCain last week to choose Sarah Palin as his running mate I did not consider my pick as having much of a chance of being selected. Why, I couldn't even pronounce her name right, much less did I think McCain would "listen" to me or any member of his base.

It appears he has "listened" to his base, or at least The Maverick did our will unbeknown. This is perhaps the first time he has "listened" to us. Let's pray it won't be the last. Once he and Sarah win he will have many opportunities to "hear" from us.

Not withstanding Michael Savage's nay saying I think Gov. Palin brings a net positive to McCain's ticket, enough to energize the base and make McCain more than just the lessor or two evils, more than just an alternative to the Obamanation that would make a desolation of the America that so many have sacrificed so much to build.

Too bad I only entertain myself with Intrade rather than being a part of the plotted data.