Editorial: Government loses grip on links

With so many different proposals and talks all ultimately aimed at direct links, it seems almost impossible for the Taiwan government to measure or control its policies on the matter. But the question is whether Taiwan can deal with the avalanche of problems that will crop up once full-blown direct links are established.

A high-ranking Chinese official, Zhu Xiangdong (朱向東), died in an accident in Taipei this past week. He was supposedly visiting Taipei as a scholar on invitation by a local university. However, the university in question has denied ever issuing such an invitation. Didn't the Taiwan government also think it could keep things under full control when it opened up cross-strait academic exchanges years ago?