This Sounds So Familiar ...

After years of facing aggressive Chinese intentions determined to make Taiwan submit to the mainland, the Taiwanese elected Ma Ying-jeou on a platform of talking to their enemy as a basis of resolving "misunderstandings" between the two. Despite zero evidence that the Chinese communists have retreated from their long-stated determination to control Taiwan, President Ma believes the two are moving toward peace:

"In the nearly half a year since my inauguration, both sides have expressed goodwill and built more consensus and mutual trust," he said while receiving a delegation from the US non-profit Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

"Therefore, the Taiwan Strait, which used to be the flashpoint in East Asia, is moving towards peace," he claimed.

Hmm. A strange sense of deja vu settles over me. I get a feeling that we might have an interest in how this philosophy of talking to enemies dedicated to our destruction works out.