Well, the Taiwanese have held rallies for membership in the UN:
More than 100,000 Taiwanese rallied Saturday to demand the United Nations accept the island as a member, the most important step yet in the government-orchestrated campaign to emphasize its separation from mainland China.
This was the Democratic Progressive Party rally. But the Nationalists were involved too:
Reflecting the party's dilemma, Nationalist presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou held his own pro-U.N. membership rally on Saturday, attracting about 50,000 supporters to the central city of Taichung. But unlike the DPP rally 125 miles to the south, this one pushed for Taiwan's U.N. re-entry under its official Republic of China name.
I confess, I'd rather the Taiwanese kept quiet while we are busy with other problems. But I am not shocked that the Taiwanese might want to leverage the publicity of the Olympics to emerge from the shadow of Peking by staking a claim to independence.
A lot may depend on how ready China is for the Taiwan Strait Long Jump event.
UPDATE: Of course, while very recent Taiwanese purchases may--if continued--hold the Chinese off, the last fifteen years have seen the steady deterioriation of the Taiwanese edge in the strait:
Taiwan, despite increasing threats from China, has allowed its military strength to shrink. Fifteen years ago, Taiwan was spending $9.7 billion a year on defense. Adjusted for inflation, that's over $14 billion today. But the current defense budget is a third less than what it was in 1992. And that would be even worse had it not been for a big boost this year. The basic problem is that enough Taiwanese, and the legislators that represent them, believe that the U.S. will protect Taiwan, and refuse to spend a lot of money on training and new weapons.
Taiwan's leaders are getting awfully chatty for a nation that lacks the ability to back up words asserting independence with the muscle to make good their declaration.
