The blogosphere has had an abundance of must-read articles as of late. Here are some of my favorites with a brief excerpt of each.
- Jujuflop explains the friction in Taipei-Washington relations since 2000.
The majority of diplomats and Taiwan-experts in the US had regular contact with senior KMT officials and built up their relationship with the KMT. When the DPP took over power in 2000, the US suddenly found that their contacts weren’t in control, and they had to develop a whole new set of relationships.
- China Confidential asks if China has a Wal-Mart problem.
China Confidential has learned that certain officials in Beijing are concerned about the ways in which Wal-Mart affects China's international image, especially in the United States, where the company has become synonymous with products--and, in the eyes of millions of Americans and many of their elected representatives--unemployment--made in China.
- Michael Turton and Jerome Keating look at the Ma Ying-jeou shuffle. Michael also looks inside the KMT.
There have also been quite a few articles in the mainstream media worth a perusal.
- A book review (sub. req.) of a new work by Oxford's Steve Tsang entitled If China Attacks Taiwan in the Wall Street Journal (hat tip: Michael Turton). Tsang examines the possibilities of a decapitation strike and looks at the effect a war would have on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Asia as a whole.
- Bill Gertz breaks the story of China's underground submarine facilities.
- Willy Lam writes on America's role in Sino-Japanese relations. (similar to this post)
- Defense News thinks America isn't being honest about its offer of submarines to Taiwan.
- The National Security Council is having a tough time finding an Asia director.
- Secretary Rice says Taiwan isn't doing enough to modernize its military. (hat tip: Michael Turton
- Nicholas Kristof calls Yahoo, MSN, Google, and Cisco the "Gang of Four." (The Economist's View and Peking Duck have the text, the former also has humorous graphics)
