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A-bian carrying a flat pole

Once upon a time, there was a farmer carrying two large empty baskets with a flat pole (or a shouldering pole) to cross a single-plank bridge. Walking to the center of the bridge, the farmer found a man (A) walking toward him. At the same time, there was another man (B) following the farmer. Both A and B would not go back to their original shores. How would you resolve this deadlock?

This was a problem used to cudgel one's brains in Taiwan in the mid-20th century.

The common suggestion at that time was that the farmer asked both A and B to ride on the baskets. Carrying the heavy burdens on both sides of the flat pole, the farmer turned his body by 180 degrees. A and B stepped out of the baskets and continued to walk toward their destinations.

The cross-strait problem facing President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) ("bian" meaning flat like in a flat pole) today is similar to the problem described above. However, the way A-bian handled this problem defies common sense. He asked only A to ride in the basket without telling B what to do. A jumped into the basket and A-bian lost the balance, causing B to fall into the river.

This is a new problem for Taiwan in the early 21st century. Taking the complexity of real life into consideration, how would you recommend solving this problem?

Charles Hong
Columbus, Ohio
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