Good reading for the morning over coffee

There is an interesting story going on in Taiwan right now that I've been following in the blogsphere. I'll try to quickly summarize the main point here.

It's a story of great political importance. Kind of.

China wants to give Taiwan a couple pandas... and what's wrong with that?

It's a pretty interesting story, and another spectacular strike by China in an internation media war that only China seems to understand how to play.

I imagine that, to the average Joe watching the 24 hour news cycle somewheres in North America, this seems like a sweet gesture from China.

There is, of course, a catch.

BeiJing won't deal with the government of Taiwan, you know, because the government in Taipei doesn't really exist anyway. This is a domestic issue they say. And so, the necessary documents that must be filled out under Taiwanese law would need to be sidestepped with the consent of the Taiwan's government.

The government of Taiwan would need to intentionally break it's own laws to accept the panadas.

In doing so it could be argued that the government of Taiwan would render itself meaningless.

On the lighter side, Wandering to Tamshui linked me to this article.

An Angry Panda on New America Media writes...

Recently, I've been sneaking into this lab at night, where there's a phone and an Internet connection. I can usually get around the Great Firewall for a few hours and surf the Western websites, where I've learned English. What do I get from the New York Times? That the Chinese press lies routinely and the United States thinks it's the best country in the world. Both things depress me immensely.

and he goes on to say...

How different is China from Taiwan from New York, anyway? You want this bear's critique? I say we're seeing capitalist democracies, dictatorships and communism meet somewhere in the dismal middle, in a kind of free-market authoritarianism. Call it corporatism.

"Whoa, panda, slow down, you're losing me," you say. Look, I'll put it simply, so even a hairless ape can understand: From where I sit, all your political systems and philosophies are corrupt. They all promote destruction of the natural world.

Invisible Hand, Great Leap Forward -- it's all the same to me.

Oh, you crazy pandas will never learn.

Anyway, I you wan to read more about this issue, check out these links:
Beijing Slaps Taiwan In The Face While Offering Olive Branch
Pandas for Taiwan: Much Ado About Nothing?