China has come up with a new tactic in its battle to achieve unification with Taiwan. Besides voicing threats and military posturing, China has recently targeted pro-independence and pro-Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) business people operating in China. When China singled out the Chi Mei Corporation (奇美企業), the world's largest manufacturer of the plastic raw material ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene), alarms started ringing for many other enterprises and individuals who support the DPP, for they fear similarly being swept up in the political storm.

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By Lu Shih-xiang盧世祥
The new Presidential Office, Executive Yuan and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) teams started their work on May 20. This new administration that vows to "unite Taiwan, stabilize cross-strait relations, seek social harmony, and reinvigorate the economy" will bear the responsibility of "paving the way for a sustainable Taiwan," as the title of President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) inauguration speech proposed.

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By Wang Kun-yi王崑義
The Annual Report on the Military Power of the People's Republic of China published by the US Department of Defense on May 28 expresses worries that China's goal of modernizing its military is making it more likely that China will take armed action against Taiwan.

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Bush's rhetoric on the war in Iraq and the war on terror has little to do with the spirit of D-Day and everything to do with internalizing national myths
By Martin Kettle
The 60th anniversary of D-Day promises moments of unique poignancy. By 2014, so it is generally understood, the ranks will be too thin and the survivors too frail for the veterans of 1944 to muster in France again. So this weekend will mark the last rallying of the liberators. And that means that never again will the leaders of the Western nations travel to the Normandy beaches to address them.

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By Pierre Lellouche and Christoph Bertram
Next week, US President George W. Bush, French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will meet on the cliffs of Normandy to mark the 60th anniversary of the D-Day invasions that led to Europe's liberation. They should also seize the moment to liberate themselves from the bitterness that has divided the Atlantic alliance over the Iraq War.

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Lofty goals that world leaders have set for environmental progress are still far out of reach, and the situation is going to be beyond repair unless dealt with soon
By James Wolfensohn
When the world's leaders met at the Millennium Summit four years ago, they agreed on a set of goals aimed at cutting global poverty in half by 2015. They also set targets for the environment, because they understood its centrality to long-term economic growth, human development and the stability of the planet. The problem is that today, 10 years shy of when the 2015 goals are to be met, progress on the environment is alarmingly slow. So much more is possible.

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A free Taiwan helps China

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