Taiwan watchers in the US may have been surprised by media reports on Wednesday that the military has already begun deployment of its newly developed Hsiung Feng II-E cruise missile and is on the verge of starting mass production. The White House must have been aware of this well in advance.

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By Kurt Campbell
While US attention remains transfixed on the drama playing out in Iraq, with headlines of another senior commander referring to the war as a disaster, a few troubling developments in the Asia-Pacific region have not received the attention they clearly deserve.

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By Ruan Ming 阮銘
If Taiwan wants to become a normal country, it has to establish a normal legislature, political parties and media that do not bow their heads to the dark remainders of the past authoritarian regime. The old-fashioned legislature, political parties and media that remain controlled by old and young followers of the past regime must be encouraged to embrace freedom, democracy and independence.

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By Tom Phillips
Veteran Amazon pilots such as Fernando Galvao Bezerra are hard men to shock. During 20 years in aviation, Bezerra, 45, has ferried prostitutes and wildcat miners to remote, lawless goldmines. He has taxied wealthy loggers between ranches, lost countless colleagues to malaria and once survived when his plane plummeted out of the sky.

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Debate at a research center has focused on who was responsible for sending an inadequate invasion force and for the failure to plan properly for the occupation
By Elisabeth Bumiller
Here at the intellectual center of the US Army, two elite officers were deep in debate at lunch on a recent day over who bore more responsibility for mistakes in Iraq -- former secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld, or the generals who acquiesced to him.

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Kao Shih-fan's article on what makes a good English teacher ("What is a good English teacher?" Oct. 16, page 8) showed insight into issues of English teaching that need to be addressed if the standard of English teaching here is ever to be raised.

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The US did the right thing in welcoming Chinese President Hu Jintao's (胡錦濤) offer of cross-strait talks as a "step in the right direction," even if Hu's precondition that Taiwan accept its "one China" vision was quickly rejected. The US was also correct to emphasize that "it is up to the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to decide the terms and conditions under which exchanges, dialogue and consultations occur."

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