Alright, first off the whole idea of (mainland) china being completely heternegeous is absurd. Just like "shanghainese, cantonese, taiwanese, and mandarin" are just "dialects". They should all be considered their own languages, because they are not mutally intelligible.

SECOND, did you forget the FORMOSANS? the ORIGINAL people of Taiwan? Whether Taiwanese like to admitt it or not, their blood is mixed with them (if they are really Taiwanese, and not the mainlanders that have come from china in the past decades)

THIRD. The Taiwanese culture is not just like all those other chinese cultures. Seriously, do you know anything? Forget about the japanese, dutch, and everyone else? Even the Taiwanese language is filled with japanese words. (ex: fruits, ojisan obasan, ainoko)

Trust me, the last thing I want to be is CHINESE. I'm fine being TAIWANESE and KOREAN.

THANKS.

Alright, first off the whole idea of (mainland) china being completely heternegeous is absurd. Just like "shanghainese, cantonese, taiwanese, and mandarin" are just "dialects". They should all be considered their own languages, because they are not mutally intelligible.

SECOND, did you forget the FORMOSANS? the ORIGINAL people of Taiwan? Whether Taiwanese like to admitt it or not, their blood is mixed with them (if they are really Taiwanese, and not the mainlanders that have come from china in the past decades)

THIRD. The Taiwanese culture is not just like all those other chinese cultures. Seriously, do you know anything? Forget about the japanese, dutch, and everyone else? Even the Taiwanese language is filled with japanese words. (ex: fruits, ojisan obasan, ainoko)

Trust me, the last thing I want to be is CHINESE. I'm fine being TAIWANESE and KOREAN.

THANKS.

GEORGE question questions the desire for independence of the Taiwanese compared to the Kosovars, saying "If Taiwan actually had a vast majority of the country willing to sacrifice blood to declare their independence, the US would support it as difficult as that may be for us."
But the Kosovars did not declare independence until Serbia had renounced the use of force. Also, a war in Taiwan would be much more devastating for the people than a war in Kosovar. The Kosovars can flee and become refugees in a Europe rich enough to support them. They can flee to Albania where they can find support. And the Serbian enemy would be much less capable than the Chinese enemy Taiwan would face. Taiwan is an industrialized island heavily dependent heavily on trade. While Kosovars would face mainly Serbian infantry, Taiwanese would face missiles, infantry, starvation, lack of sanitation in an extremely densely populated country. And there would be nowhere to escape to.

Kosovar had reason to believe, given the presence of UN troops, that such an declaration of independence would not lead to violence. Taiwan has no such assurance and understandably exercises more caution.

Finally, there have been complaints from some in the U.S. about Taiwanese failure to purchase weapons from the U.S.. The current political system, in which the old-guard KMT control the richest political party in the world, gives several advantage to the KMT. The Taiwanese have attempted Constitutional reform, but it was the U.S. government that pressured them abandon reforms. Odd that we should be then criticizing them for the outcome.

Shame on you for deleting my enlightening comment.why cant you blog in an unbiased and above-the-board way? Why dont you let more people understand the real situation here across the taiwan straits instead of manipulating the blog and drowning out different voices? There is no such thing as ethnic Taiwanese as Taiwanese like shanghainese, cantonese, beijingnese etc are all chinese. The people in Taiwan and the people in mainland China share the same tradition, culture, language, customs etc. It is the politics made the de facto separation from each other. Be man enough and face the reality, there is no such a state like Taiwan, it is Republic of China. It is still part of China. I am not an ultranationalist, but I think an united china can do much more contribution to the world.

It always good ides to pork stick to Chinese government, but not Chinese people. Of course everybody have right. Now we see tens thousand protesters in Serbia (I am not trying to make judgment), with stupid nationalism, it is easy to predict there would be tens millions protestor in China, which poses a real threat to this unpeaceful world.

"The difference between the written language is also much different than between British and American English."

TIers habitually nit-pick every tiniest difference between Taiwan and China and, at the same time, hide or distort the facts. The above quoted sentence is but one of such examples.

While saying that the writing systems in Taiwan and China are different, this TIer fails to inform people that the writing system used in Taiwan is called "Traditional Chinese characters".

Why did he/she decide to leave out this fact? Why ask? The term "Chinese" is a no-no to TIers, let alone "Traditional Chinese". This tells you how far TIers would go to hide and distort facts. This is just another example of the "hating China" mentality I mentioned above.

"I don't think Taipei sees Beijing as its enemy"? Huh? This is, at best, a carefully worded statement.

Can you read Chinese? Do you read DPP's propaganda materials? If you read carefully DPP's propaganda materials, you'd realize that beneath DPP's "Loving Taiwan" slogan, there is this "hating China" mentality.

You never heard of terms like Zhong Guo Zhu (Chinese pig)?

DPP, like KKK, is a hate group.

WPR:
The U.S. did that until Nixon-Carter. Time to move on, not to turn back

Mr Liu, shouldn't the U.S. have a policy that is to its own best interest? Why spilling blood for almost nothing? Are the Iraq people really better off now after the U.S. intervention? How about so many Iraqi civilian deaths (simply because they were at a wrong place at a wrong time)? Isn’t that really horrible to both Chinese peoples if the two parts become one (of course, the U.S. doesn’t want to see that either)? By the way, what people in Hong Kong have suffered after it became part of China? Can you name one or two things, Mr Liu?

-------------------------------------
Response to:
WPR:
Can't agree more. The US should formally recognize Taiwan on the grounds of morality, principle of self determinism, and consistency of its foreign policy. This case will set a great, vivid example to the world that has had doubt about or resentment towards the US foreign policy.

All these arguments about which population displacements were larger miss the point (to say nothing of their shoddy backing). The issue is who is at fault, not who suffered more. As a parallel, consider the aftereffects of World War II: Germans were expelled, en masse, from Russia and Eastern Europe. This exodus is estimated to be the largest population displacement *in all of human history*. However, you'd be laughed at if you suggested moral equivalence between the Germans and the Eastern Europeans on the basis of the numbers of people killed/displaced. Indeed, the very reason that the Germans were expelled in the first place was because they had initiated a brutal attempt at dominating all the other populations. Thus, nobody feels sorry for the fact that they ended up being displaced and ceding territory. You play with fire, you get burnt.

The bigest ethnic cleanings in Yugoslavia are: 250.000-300.000 Serbs from Croatia, and 250.000 Serbs from Kosovo. Only from Pristina 40.000 Unbelievable? Yes, but it is truth.
Kosovo is not question between Rusia and USA, its question of modern civilization.

The bigest ethnic cleanings in Yugoslavia are: 250.000-300.000 Serbs from Croatia, and 250.000 from Kosovo. Unbelievable? Yes, but it is truth.

Anonymous says:
If China attacked Taiwan and initiated an ethnic cleansing campaign, then you could draw similar parallells. The disolution of Yugoslavia can be traced back to the Milosovic serb-nationalist movement and the death of perhaps 250,000 people. Your comparison is difficult to accept
Gandra replies:
State Department declared that there are 250.000 murdered in Kosovo by Milosevic's forces. Pope believed in that and asked Klinton to bomb Serbia (it said Klinton when pope died, or it is fantasy?). Finaly State Department come to 10.000 victims(Albaniens) Total number (without NATO) of murdered (Serbs, Albaniens, Roms, muslims...=Kosovars) does not nearly reachd level 10.000.
There was a public session Security Council of U.N. Prime minister Kostunica publicly declared that in Pristina 1999. lived 40.000 Serbs, now there only "living" (it is more than ghetto) 10-20 Serbs. It is not fantasy, it is brutal ethnic cleaning, it is shame for U.N. and all West and all people which thinking by CNN brain.
Are you mad anonimus. Do you know how much are 250.000 murdered!!!!

Taiwan isn't Kosovo - The Washington Post should have reporters that understand that. The comment was very junior varsity. Kin-ming Liu is wrong in his comparison, and the last paragraph in READIN's comment is the real reason why.

In Kosovo, the majority of the people want independence. In Taiwan, while the vast majority of the people don't want to be part of a communist country, only a minority of the people want true independence. It's that simple. The one-China policy of the US isn't our fault - it's a reflection of reality of the true nature of how the people of Taiwan feel. That's why you get a policy with a split-personality - Taiwan is truly split on the issue.

It is disturbing that Kin-ming Liu would suggest that the US is not consistent in our approach to Taiwan given our approach to Kosovo. If Taiwan actually had a vast majority of the country willing to sacrifice blood to declare their independence, the US would support it as difficult as that may be for us. In fact, if this was true - the issue over Taiwan would have been forced long ago. I think Kin-ming Liu would be happy to spill American blood for Taiwanese independence - but that won't happen because a majority of Taiwanese are unwilling to spill it themselves.

The United States has an obligation to protect Taiwan from China should China become bilegerent. But we have no obligation to side with the 30% or so part of the population that would force a war that the majority of all countries involved don't want.

It is interesting that the final, unresolved aspect of the Chinese civil war is a waiting game. From the KMT side, it seems they're willing to wait for Communism to collapse - then reunification can begin in earnest. From the PRC side, they're thinking they can pressure the island into submission eventually. Those on the fringe are playing a dangerous game if they give China an excuse to increase that pressure.

As an American, I would like to see the Chinese comunist party implode from internal pressures - and those pressures are there. The day that happens, Taiwan can be the "Chinese city on the hill" example of how a country can go from a dictatorship to democracy in one generation. Let's get over Mao and Chiang Kai-shek - they're dead. New leadership on both sides is the only way this gets resolved.

To clarify some misconceptions and mistatements:

It is not true that "Taiwan was part of China, for thousands of years". In fact the earliest one can reasonably claim Taiwan as part of China is when the Dutch Empire surrendered Taiwan to a Chinese rebel. It was the Dutch who first encouraged Chinese immigration to Taiwan. The Chinese intermarried with the native Taiwanese that the Taiwanese are of mixed ancestry.

Taiwan cannot be compared to modern day Texas, Florida or Washington because those states are currently under the control of the United States and because there is no significant desire within those states to not be part of the United States.

Taiwan is also different from the states of the U.S. because all states in the U.S. voted to join, while Taiwan has never agreed to be part of China.

The comparison to the U.S. Civil War is flawed because the Confederacy was taking with it several million slaves who were given no voice in the decision to secede. While some may applaud Lincoln's actions in forcing the southern states to remain just because they want a bigger country, many Americans see justification for Lincoln's aggressiveness only in that he freed millions of slaves.

"Taiwan has always been a province of China" is simply false. Taiwan was a province of China for 5 years from 1890 to 1895 before becoming part of Japan.

"the independence of Kosovo is the desire of a vast majority of the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo (I believe the count is above 90% of the populace). Where as the independence of Taiwan is a desire of a vocal portion of the populace but not necessarily a majority". 90% of Albanians desire independence while UN troops are there to protect them against a weak Serbia. Were Taiwan similarly protected against a weak neighbor, what do you suppose the numbers would be? Unfortunately, the time-period when Taiwan was stronger that China was also a time when the Taiwanese views were suppressed by the dictator-in-exile-from-his-home-country Chiang Kai-shek. It is a shame that due to violent repression by Chinese occupiers the Taiwanese were unable to voice their opinions.

Kosovo may resemble Taiwan, but China is not Yugo...

Isn't this the same pan-green tool who claimed that Israel = Taiwan a few months ago in the same washpost forum?? Can't this loser make up his mind or does he simply attach "Taiwan" to whatever conveniently pops up in the news. Seems like he has no idea what Taiwan actually is anymore.

During World War II and long before, the major powers agreed that Taiwan was part of China. Indeed, the US for decades later officially regarded and treated Taiwan AS China. For far too long the US and, to a lesser extent, other lesser Western powers, have treated the world at large as though they have some right and legitimacy to divide other countries and then recognize the resulting entities as "independent." They did it with India, Korea, Vietnam, Palestine and China,among others. And what a fine mess these double-standard-ridden, unilateralism actions entailed. One cannot help wonder what the reaction would be if the situation were reversed: Texas for example, or Florida, or Washington state declares independence, and other major powers of the world recognize it. Something close to that happened at the time of the American Civil War and, of course, the "Union" took great umbrage. Should not what is sauce for the goose be also sauce for the gander -- turntable be fair play? Why not?

Michael: Your comments hit the point exactly. I don't care what Mr. Liu is advocating but his using such a shallow comparison insults our intelligence.

Does Washington Post select papers based on author’s ability to analyze or just the ability to spot some emotional topic?

"I fail to understand the comparison between Taiwan and Kosovo. I can see how it can be used, on a superficial level, to help the cause of Taiwan, but these are two very different cases. This article is very poorly written and sounds more like a teenager's letter of plea aimed towards the U.S. Government."

But in your dream, perhaps you haven't thought about: CHINA != Serbia

Taiwan's current administration is known for paying some little known writer to promote its illegitimate "cause." Taiwan has always been a province of China, however special it thinks its status is. If you want to make false statement, why not say Hong Kong is also an independent country?

It's surprising that the Post will find this propagandist for this forum. Is this a balanced forum? Or is it also receiving payment from Taiwan's current administration? Enjoy the last few happy days. It ain't gonna last long.

Taiwan is de-facto independent??? Why dont we just remove "de-facto" and see how many m-class missiles lands on Taiwan tomorrow. How much are Japs paying you each month?

This is a totally inappropriate comparison. If Kosovo was part of Russian, then this would not happen. The only reason that Kosovo is now independent is because Serbia is a very weak and small state. China would go to war if Taiwan were to declare independence, so, it would be in everyone's interests that Taiwan does not seek independence.

"How about Russia and other countries recognise the independence of the American Indian nation in USA, extending all over USA which belongs to them in the first place?"

Well, they aren't asking for that are they?

I disagree with your opinion. Primarily due to the fact that the independence of Kosovo is the desire of a vast majority of the ethnic Albanian population in Kosovo (I believe the count is above 90% of the populace). Where as the independence of Taiwan is a desire of a vocal portion of the populace but not necessarily a majority. This is even more clear with the recent landslide defeat of Democratic Progressive Party by the Kuomintang which points toward a majority preferring non-independence (not to be mixed with unification) versus having a completely independent Taiwan.

"Taiwan has always been part of China. Regardless whether China is a dictatorship or democracy. The independence is just a joke."

Taiwan has not always been part of China. Until the end of the Ming dynasty it was mostly populated by indigenous people who were in no way Chinese. Taiwan was part of the Dutch empire before it was part of the Qing empire. Even when the Qing dynasty nominally claimed Taiwan, they did nothing to back up those claims. When shipwrecked Japanese sailors were attacked by Taiwanese natives, and the Japanese government protested, the Qing dynasty said they didn't really have authority over Taiwan and couldn't be held responsible.

Then Taiwan was part of Japan until sovereignty passed to the Republic of China. It has never been part of the People's Republic of China.

And by the way, dictatorship vs. democracy matter to the people of Taiwan, and to many in China, too, even if you don't care Linda Hung.

"Taiwanese are Chinese. They share the same culture, the same religious and the same skin color. And, the most important of all, they are Chinese that immigranted to Taiwan very recently. People in Kosovo and people in Serbia don't have the same religious. Religious was the source of hate. People in Taiwan dislike China was the results of lies of Taiwan's corruppted leaders."

They don't share the same culture. Anyone who has visited both China and Taiwan will tell you that Taiwanese are generally much more polite, tidy and civil than Chinese. There is also an obvious Japanese influence on the country. The difference between the written language is also much different than between British and American English.

Furthermore, Chinese and Taiwanese people don't share the same religions. The Chinese government is atheistic, but the Chinese people are Buddhists, Muslims, Christians, atheists, and other religions. Most Taiwanese are Buddhists, Christians, or atheists, but there are few Muslims. I don't think you can really generalize that they share a common religion either.

Again the differences between the US, UK, Australia and Canada pale in comparison to the differences between Taiwan and China. Should those Anglo countries all be the same country?

As for Taiwan's corrupted leaders: Both China and Taiwan have had corrupt leaders-Mao and Chiang, for example- but unlike China, people in Taiwan have a free press and a multi party democracy so they can elect different leaders when they become corrupt. Also, unlike China, in Taiwan, people are free to protest and criticize publicly their leaders. If this were possible in China, maybe people in Taiwan would be more interested in being part of China...

Taiwan has not extended recognition to Kosovo. Taiwan cannot extend such recognition, because Taiwan has no government and no foreign ministry, because Taiwan has never organized a civil government of her own. The Republic of China, located on Formosa, known also in US law (22 USC 3301 et seq) as Taiwan, has extended unilateral recognition to Kosovo. Such an act does not constitute the establishment of diplomatic or any other relations between Kosovo and the Republic of China exile Chinese government which is located on Formosa. Taiwan, in the geographic sense, or Formosa, in the territorial sense, is territory taken from Japan by the United States as a result of the second World War, and described by Article 77 of the UN Charter. Serbia engaged in unlawful war affecting international peace in violation of the UN Charter and laws of war, and as a lawful reprisal, territory such as Serbian Kosovo, may be defeased from Serbia and granted self-determination through independence. Formosa may only achieve similar independence through similarly authorized acts of organic self-determination. Dr. Margaret Lu, a posthumous daughter of a victim of genocide during the 228 Massacre on Formosa, has petitioned the US Congress for the Formosans to organize a civil government. Roger C.S. Lin is also suing for declaratory relief that Taiwanese natives are noncitizen nationals of the US under the San Francisco Peace Treaty Articles 2, 4a, 4b and 23, and his counsel Charles A. Camp, has a lawsuit pending before Judge Rosemary Collyer in the US District Court for the District of Columbia. These represent real efforts to secure Formosan independence from the United States Military Government Formosa which currently administers the island in jurisdiction reposed in the Republic of China Taiwan governing authorities. Joint Chiefs of Staff Orders 1380/15, 1651, SCAPIN 677, USUN UNSC document S/1716, the DOS OLA Starr Memo (online at heritage.org at Tkacic's webpages), and declassified SWNCC SFE 104 and 108 reports on the Sovereignty Status and Occupation of Formosa, and recently declassified CIA documents on the de jure status quo of Formosa as territory within the United States as defeased by her from Japan, clarify these matters.
A good model for clarification of the status quo and continuing cooperation by the US, ROC, and Formosa, can be seen from 48 USC 644a and the joint US UK confederal administration of Canton and Enderbury islands (later recognized by the Senate as defeased of the US to the independent state of Kiribati through the US Kiribati Treaty of Friendship and Sovereignty), akin to the pre-treaty status of the Isle of Pines (Isla de Juventud), Cuba, as discussed in Pearcy v Strahanan.

Taiwan has always been part of China. Regardless whether China is a dictatorship or democracy. The independence is just a joke.

Taiwanese are Chinese. They share the same culture, the same religious and the same skin color. And, the most important of all, they are Chinese that immigranted to Taiwan very recently. People in Kosovo and people in Serbia don't have the same religious. Religious was the source of hate. People in Taiwan dislike China was the results of lies of Taiwan's corruppted leaders.

Shame on Mr. Liu. How can you compare Kosovo to Taiwan.

Taiwanese are Chinese. They share the same culture, the same religious and the same skin color. And, the most important of all, they are Chinese that immigranted to Taiwan very recently. People in Kosovo and people in Serbia don't have the same religious. Religious was the source of hate. People in Taiwan dislike China was the results of lies of Taiwan's corruppted leaders.

Shame on Mr. Liu. How can you compare Kosovo to Taiwan.

"You cannot be serious!"....Mac

Shen Jing Bing!

"Mr. Liu, let me ask you this your last name is a common Chinese name, which has a history of thousands of years. May I ask you how many Mr. Liu and Ms. Liu in Taiwan, how many Wangs, Changs? The people in Taiwan are Chinese people. Taiwan has always been part of China. They read write speak Chinese, and they live Chinese lives."

So by this reasoning Canadians should be part of the United States (or vice versa) because we share the same language and much of the same history (of English colonialism). But we're not, and we don't want to be. Because there are differences, and historical circumstances that have led us down somewhat different paths.

The differences between Taiwan and China are VASTLY more stark than between Canada and the US. Taiwan is a liberal, multi-party democracy with respect for minorities. China is a repressive, single party autocracy that seeks to muzzle religious and ethnic minorities.

How about Russia and other countries recognise the independence of the American Indian Nation in USA, extending all over USA which belongs to them in the first place?

How about Russia and other countries recognise the independence of the American Indian nation in USA, extending all over USA which belongs to them in the first place?

1. Taiwan was part of China, for thousands of years
2. Taiwan is not a part of China, it is an independent country not recognized by many countries
3. Taiwan should not be united with PRC, as long as PRC is governed by a dictatorship government
4. If, PRC changes to a free countrie in the future, it is ok to do the re-union thing
5. PRC does not have the ability to "liberate" Taiwan if US stands by it

-----Chinese people from mainland China

Can't agree more. The US should formally recognize Taiwan on the grounds of morality, principle of self determinism, and consistency of its foreign policy. This case will set a great, vivid example to the world that has had doubt about or resentment towards the US foreign policy.

Mr. Liu, let me ask you this your last name is a common Chinese name, which has a history of thousands of years. May I ask you how many Mr. Liu and Ms. Liu in Taiwan, how many Wangs, Changs? The people in Taiwan are Chinese people. Taiwan has always been part of China. They read write speak Chinese, and they live Chinese lives.

I am sorry but Taiwan has always been part of China. Condi Rice was just in Beijing, and she reiterated numerous times the one China policy.

Ain't gonna happen, Mr. Liu. I suggest you move to Indonesia or Thailand since you don't like the idea of Chinese people in one nation.

Serbia-Kosovo, Italia-Tirol, France-Korzika, Spain-Baskia, England-North Ireland, Romania-Transilvania, Rusia-Chechenia, India-Kashmir, Canada-Quebeck, China-Tajwan,...are comparable.
It was a bad idea destroy Serbia. Atacks on Serbia has never lead to good solution for peace in the world (1914. 1941... "is the Serbia a big power?"). "History is a teacher of life". But, now West "rape" that teacher. Why?

There is hardly any similarity between Kosovo and Taiwan. To draw a comparison is stretching the issue mighty thin to make a point. There is no parallel to the history of the two countries (?) or their current situation. Actually Taiwan has a much more valid claim for independent sovereignty and support from Western powers than does Kosovo.

Kosovo WILL turn out to be another Palestine for the United States. The ethnic hatred will breed acts of terrorism from both sides and will certainly spill over to the United States. NATO troops will be attacked by Serbian militias just like what the Iraqis are doing. The Neocons will never learn. They won't stop until America is brought down as the evil empire that the rest of the world sees it.

So let me get this straight, Mr. Liu. You are comparing Kosovo to Taiwan. That naturally means you are comparing Serbia to China, since Serbia(not Russia) claims sovereignty over Kosovo and China claims sovereignty over Taiwan. Since when is Serbia in the same league as China?

Interesting.

The determination by the U.S and NATO, at all costs, to occupy Kosovo and virtually all of Yugoslavia, is spurred on by the enticement of abundant natural resources. Kosovo alone has the richest mineral resources in all of Europe west of Russia. The New York Times observed that "the sprawling state-owned Trepca mining complex, the most valuable piece of real estate in the Balkans, is worth at least $5 billion."

I fail to understand the comparison between Taiwan and Kosovo. I can see how it can be used, on a superficial level, to help the cause of Taiwan, but these are two very different cases. This article is very poorly written and sounds more like a teenager's letter of plea aimed towards the U.S. Government.

I would love to thank thos country who recopcnazed KOSOVO and who helped, also i would thank who will accept Kosovo And awe know what serbian people did to Kruacea and Bonsnja and Kosovo they killed so many incent and womans kids and old people. Kosova never belong to Serbis but we been together in Yougoslavia. Yougoslavia doesnt exest anymore thanks to Milloshoviq and Serbs becase they wannet big serbian and they dont care for other people in Bulkun they think they can do something with wars burning houses leaving inisint chiled with no parants and leaving parants with no children and how is it when fother sees how they kill thier children. Thank you USA and UK and Europe we are today independen becase of your supors and your help.

KIm ming lui wrote
"If China is to make life more difficult for Kosovo, there's a chance for Pristina to establish ties with Beijing's enemy at the end of the day"

If kosovo has the nerve to recognize Taiwan, then it will never see the light of the day at the UN. So go ahead Kosovo - recognize Taiwan and we'll see if it ever gets into the UN.

MOre likely, Kosovo will follow Taiwan into the dust bin of history. And just as Taiwan will day be reabsorbed into China, so too will kosovo be back into the Serbian fold.

"In Kosovo and Albania there is a strong presence of the Italian mafia."

You know where else the Italian mafia has a strong presense? Italy. The United States. Should we refuse to recognize the independence of these nations because of that?

"The self declared independence of Kosovo is unprecedented"

Don't be silly: self-declared independence is the only kind there is. Nobody else can declare it for you. For example, you may have heard of this document produced in the United States back in the 1700's called the "Declaration of Independence?"

"think at what is happening to the Kurds or the Palestinians for their quest of an independent state"

That sounds more like a threat than a rhetorical point. But anyhow, it's not as though the various parties who favor recognizing Kosovo are particularly opposed to a Palestinian or Kurdish state, so...

Hi Kin,
Could not agree with you more. Washington should follow suit in Taiwan.

Kosovo has been in recent years the main transit route for the heroin that goes to Europe. In Kosovo and Albania there is a strong presence of the Italian mafia. The self declared independence of Kosovo is unprecedented: think at what is happening to the Kurds or the Palestinians for their quest of an independent state or at what happened to prevent the independence of Ireland. Nothing is casual on this hearth.

If China attacked Taiwan and initiated an ethnic cleansing campaign, then you could draw similar parallells. The disolution of Yugoslavia can be traced back to the Milosovic serb-nationalist movement and the death of perhaps 250,000 people. Your comparison is difficult to accept.

Encouraging independence for Taiwan is contrary to sound US foreign policy and plainly nuts considering the possibility of a war with China.

Recognizing an independent Kosovo is equally wacky. Europe really doesn't need another Muslim state. Our intervention was a mistake, and irritating to the Russians for what end?

The US is not the global guarantor of freedom, as our Iraqi misadventure shows.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hashim_Tha%C3%A7i

Thaci is known to have extensive criminal links. During the period of time when Thaci was head of the Kosovo Liberation Army, it was reported by the Washington Times to be financing its activities by trafficking heroin and cocaine into western Europe.[7] While the KLA was officially disbanded at the end of armed conflict in Kosovo in 1999, the new Kosovo Protection Force was composed primarily of former KLA fighters and the Democratic Party of Kosovo was formed largely from the political leadership of the KLA. A near monopoly on the means of force based on the absorption of the KLA into the KPF allowed the Democratic Party of Kosovo to seize near complete control of the machinery of government at the municipal level.[8] The Democratic Party of Kosovo has regularly employed violence and intimidation of political rivals to maintain local political control and protect criminal enterprises which depend upon cooperation from friendly local authorities.[9] Thaçi in particular is seen as being central to the criminal activites of the Kosovo Protection Force, who were reportedly extorting money from businessmen under the guise of "taxes" for Thaçi's self appointed government.[10] The fact that the Democratic Party of Kosovo was seen as both corrupt and criminal lead directly to the electoral defeat of the DPK in the first free elections in the province in 2001. The BBC stated at the time, " The tumbling reputation of the former KLA was to have a disastrous effect on the PDK because of the perceived overlap between its political leadership and post-KLA organised crime."[11] Thaçi is reputed to control up to fifteen percent of the smuggling of arms, stolen cars, oil and prostitution in Kosovo, and to maintain connections with foreign mafia organizations. [12]

Your claims are very irresponsible.
Kosovo Albanians had their state, It is called Albania and it is bordering with Serbian Kosovo.

So, why should Albanians have 2 countries? To make one big Albania, one big Islamic Terrorist country. Do some research to find out who the leaders of Kosovo Albanians are, please.

They have met with Bin Laden in Albania Tirana, between 1994-1996 several times.

They are narco - human trafficing terrorists who manipulated the world and media into being victims, as muslims usually do. And instead of asking for human rights which they say they were denied, they asked for straight out rule of the province of a sovereign country.

Not one town or village bears Albanian name in Kosovo. All the places in Kosovo bear Serbian names.

So, you are happy that Bin Laden had its way and now has a state in the Balkans.

America had its strategical interest in helping Albanians expell Serbs from Kosovo. They bulit Camp Bondsteel there even before they staged the ethnic cleansing of Albanians.
As for Taiwan, you can only hope, for China will never allow American occupation of its territory.

Well, said! My only comment is that Beijing sees Taipei as its enemy but I don't think Taipei sees Beijing as its enemy. Taipei just wants to be left alone while Beijing wants to take over Taipei.

Congratulations to the people of Kosovo.

I heard recently some reasons given for the US recognizing Kosovo independence. The majority ethnic group in Kosovo having been discriminated against by the minority ethnic group that formed the ruling class. The thousands killed by the rulers. I was amazed at how much it sounded like Taiwan. Most Taiwanese have Chinese ancestry, but most also have Taiwanese aborigine ancestry. Taiwan became a province a mere 5 years before becoming part of Japan in 1895. For 50 years Taiwan was part of Japan. It was a mere 5 years again (1945 to 1949) that Taiwan was ruled by the same government that ruled China. In that short time the Chinese killed thousands of Taiwanese. When the a large number of Chinese moved from China to Taiwan in 1949, the Chinese discriminated heavily against the Taiwanese. The authoritarian rule continued for decades. Thousands more were killed. Talk of Taiwan independence was forbidden. Use of Taiwanese language in schools an on TV and radio was forbidden. It has only been since martial law was lifted in 1987 that Taiwanese have been able to express their opinions. Expecting the US to immediately support Taiwan independence may be too much, but we should at least take steps to support Taiwan like establishing a free trade zone with them.

I don't understand how the West can be so cowardly towards Taiwan. I am a South African and my country was chastised for opressing blacks (not killing citizens en mass as in China). The Chinese regime has a wicked past and is only slightly better now in terms of civil liberties. Taiwan is a sovereign country and has been for many years in the eyes of everyone except the PRC. America should be ashamed that they do not support a democratic state next to China, and show that they still own the moral high ground.

What Taiwan needs to do is to learn from Israel & Jewish communities in the US to buy her needed supports from US politicians at all levels--Fed including White House, 50 states, Congress & state Senates--using her huge foreign reserves[$160 billion of them today]. Then Taiwan, like Israel, shall be treated with tender loving care by USA & the world. Money talks especially in election years, doesn't it?

Then every politician in the US, & her followers, will change their tune to redefine the outdated ONE CHINA policy as follows:

THERE IS ONLY ONE CHINA ON EARTH WHICH CONSISTS OF TAIWAN, PRC, MONGOLIA & PERHAPS TIBET, XINCHIANG AND MANY OTHERS TO COME IN THE FUTURE, period.

Furthermore, PRC is NOT = CHINA & CHINA not = PRC. PRC as well as Taiwan is just a part of that ONE CHINA. No one owns the other. To wit: Taiwan[officially ROC] was founded in 1911 & PRC in 1949, some 38 years later. During their entire history no one has ever been a part of the other. Who is to say that PRC will last forever?
Remember USSR? Where is she now? Got that?!!!

>Wrong, Turton. The nutcases either work for >Taipei Times, like the author Liu, or writes >his own blog. And they scratch each others' >backs.

Some nutcases, however, don't even deal with the topic, but instead make personal attacks.

Issues like Kosovo and Taiwan will always have different points of view. But civilized behaviour is another thing altogether. It is important to able to discuss these issues in a sensible manner.

Which I'm afraid to say (by afraid I mean it literally, in view of the violent language used here by unionists and of course, on a separate level, the Chinese govt) the Beijing government has not been able to do with ANYONE when it comes to the Taiwan issue.

They are sooo afraid of the reality (that Taiwan effectively lies beyond their control) that they threaten and bully anyone who dares to even touch on the topic. (Think Germany and the recent Dalai Lama thing)

I'm an outsider. It really doesn't concern me. I'm all for business and making money. But the way Beijing handles the Taiwan issue is not good for business. Business is about negotiations, Beijing is about war.

Has Beijing, wielding the international political power it does, initiated any form of dialogue with Taiwan?

Instead, it has tried to bully everyone on this: the US, Germany, even down to tiny Singapore.

I am unable to accept this behaviour as logical and would love to hear a sensible explanation from any of these nutcases.