On Tuesday, a 3m “Goddess of Democracy” statue was erected in Washington by the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation in memory of the more than 100 million people who have died at the hands of the world’s various communist governments.

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By Joseph Nye
Most people looking at the rise of Asian power focus on China and India. They often forget that Japan’s US$5 trillion economy is the second-largest in the world — bigger than those of China and India combined — with a per capita income that is 10 times that of China. In addition, Japan spends US$40 billion annually on defense, and has one of the top five military forces in the world. [ FULL STORY ]

By John Copper
Now that Frank Hsieh (謝長廷) has won the Democratic Progressive Party’s (DPP) nomination and Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT), one has to wonder what preference China has for one or the other.

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The best thing to do would be to establish the total amount of greenhouse gases that could be emitted without causing climate change to become extremely dangerous; divide that total by the world's population and then allocate emissions quotas based on each country's population
By Peter Singer
The agreement on climate change reached at Heiligendamm, Germany, by the G8 leaders merely sets the stage for the real debate to come: How will we divide up the diminishing capacity of the atmosphere to absorb our greenhouse gases?

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We should congratulate the president of Costa Rica that he can tell the difference between China and Taiwan, and distinguish, as our own foreign minister in Taiwan cannot, that Taiwan is not China and does not control the huge territory that is commonly known as China.

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Fighting in the legislature, permanently blocked bills, allegations of corruption at every turn, enough U-turns to leave us feeling dizzy, and now lawmakers resorting to hurling bags filled with human feces. The political situation in Taiwan is a mess. It might be funny, were it not for the fact that the country is being damaged by our politicians’ antics.

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Last week I attended a seminar called “The Black Bat Squadron in Hsinchu — A Salute to the Brave” held by writer Lung Ying-tai (龍應台). While watching a documentary film during the seminar, I was moved by the bravery and fortitude of the pilots in this squadron that served our nation.

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