Last night, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) returned to Taiwan from China. His visit reveals that the idea of "China" is embedded in his political genes, and it has led to a highly charged response from the Taiwanese public, who either love or detest him for it. They have made their feelings clear through demonstrations of support and protest during his departure and his return.

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By Li Ming-juinn 李明峻
Following the recent spate of anti-Japanese demonstrations in China targeting Japanese firms and representative offices in various cities, Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing (李肇星) not only refused to offer any apology or compensation, but said that Japan had provoked the situation by hurting China's feelings through revisions of textbooks and its stance on Taiwan.

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By Wang Dan 王丹
Whether Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan's (連戰) visit to China is a good or bad thing cannot be concluded with a sweeping generalization.

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Reporters from abroad are faced with the challenge fo explainning to their readers an election in which the incumbent is widely despised, but still on course for victory
By Jonathan Freedland
It's not often that the international press take an interest in UK politics, but they are now. Survey the back rows of the morning press conferences and you'll see reporters from across the globe, come to watch the final days of the British election campaign.

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The man who once invited people to vote Labour because of him now has to ask the electorate to vote Labour in spite of him
By Andrew Rawnsley
The most formidable enemy British Prime Minister Tony Blair faces in the election is neither Conservative leader Michael Howard nor Liberal-Democrat leader Charles Kennedy. All the opinion polls agree that the majority still regard him as the superior candidate for the job of prime minister. The toughest opponent that Blair is running against is himself. He has to overcome all the other Blairs who are disliked, often intensely loathed, by those voters who have had enough.

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When Japan's prime minister came courting India, he was ready to do whatever it took -- even serenade schoolchildren.

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By William Wolfe
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) must be auditioning for a new career as a comedian. How else to explain his assertion in Beijing that recent "reforms" in China have closed the political gap between China and Taiwan? He must have had the audience rolling in the aisles.

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By Gandalf Liu
It's unbelievable that KMT Chairman Lien Chan urged his Peking University audience to unite against Taiwanese independence for all the world to see. Living on a democratic and self-ruled island, we can accept different voices, but how sad it is to see an outside power involving itself in our domestic affairs, especially with the help of our biggest opposition party.

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By Chen Ming-chung
Opposing Taiwanese independence is a front for opposing Taiwanese freedom of choice. The whole world knows this -- except for KMT Chairman Lien Chan and his followers, as their reaction to the "Anti-Secession" Law showed. The pan-blue camp said the law targeted Taiwanese independence supporters, and therefore refused to participate in the protest on March 26, which, like Lien's trip, confused KMT followers and the world.

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