No one, not even president-elect Ma Ying-jeou (°¨­^¤E), could have been surprised last week when American Institute in Taiwan Director Stephen Young informed him that Washington had turned down his application to visit the US before his inauguration next Tuesday.

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By Gerrit van der Wees
Back in 1992, then-US Democratic presidential candidate Bill Clinton hammered away at his opponent ¡X incumbent president George H.W. Bush ¡X by saying his administration was to blame for the downturn in the economy.

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By Paul Lin ªL«OµØ
The Democratic Progressive Party¡¦s (DPP) loss to the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) in the past two elections reminded me of how the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) also experienced defeat by the KMT. Many lessons can be learned from the loss. Although the DPP is not the CCP, it can learn from the CCP¡¦s strategic thinking.

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By Chiu Hei-yuan £®ü·½
The Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics¡¦ figures show exports totaled US$24.3 billion in March, a 23 percent increase from the same period one year ago, while imports totaled US$24.1 billion, 37 percent more than last year. Export totals from January to March were 17 percent higher than the previous year, while imports increased by 26 percent.

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Even as aid agencies waited for the government to let them help the millions affected by Cyclone Nargis, the generals were forcing the Burmese to turn out for a referendum
By Ian MacKinnon
For the strongmen of Myanmar, nothing was going to stand in the way of the ballot. Not a devastating cyclone that reaped death and destruction on a biblical scale. Not the international aid community banging on the door to get in to help. So on Saturday, survivors of the cataclysm that may have left 116,000 dead and 1.9 million homeless were ordered to turn out and vote yes in the constitutional referendum by generals who have held their impoverished country in a grip of stone for 46 years.

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By Suzanne DiMaggio
As the death toll from the cyclone that struck a densely populated area of Myanmar ¡X stretching from the Irrawaddy Delta to the capital city of Yangon ¡X continued to soar, the country¡¦s military dictatorship pressed ahead with efforts to consolidate its power.

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