Wednesday, April 07, 2010

Falling for the Ruse

Taiwan's Ma is falling for the Chinese ruse of thinking that moving missiles from within range of Taiwan is a Chinese concession:

We also demand that the mainland should remove or actually dismantle all the missiles that are targeted against Taiwan, otherwise we won't be interested in making further steps to negotiate a peace agreement with them,” the president was quoted as saying in Taipei City.

Or? That is not a demand. That is a surrender to Peking.

Don't be confused. Moving the missiles is no step to peace.

By demanding that China remove or dismantle the missiles--as if they are functionally equivalent--Ma just gets to pretend he stood up for Taiwan when China reluctantly--for some price, I'm sure--moves all the missiles it doesn't need in the first 24 hours of an invasion to bases out of range but well within range to set up within 24 hours to continue the bombardment of Taiwan.

Hope and change doesn't look so good, even from a distance.