Anyone who believed that China respects Taiwanese people should have been roused from their stupor after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) on Tuesday reiterated Beijing's line that Taiwan is an inseparable part of China.

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By Sushil Seth
First Myanmar and then China. It is quite a coincidence that Buddhist monks in both countries have been leading protests against repression.

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By Hsu Shih-jung 徐世榮
The recently televised vice presidential platform presentation gave us a deeper understanding of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) vice presidential candidate Vincent Siew's (蕭萬長) way of thinking: He believes that politics and the economy can be separated.

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Beijing can be benevolent or brutal, but it will find that national identity lies at the heart of demands for self-determination
By Ed Douglas
Putting the Olympic flame on the summit of Mount Everest must have seemed a great idea to the planning committee of the Beijing Olympics. What better expression of China's inexorable rise to superpower status could there be? Everest was the crowning glory for Queen Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953. So it would be for China's political elite.

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Centuries of absorption and assimilation have led to China's inability to respect ethnic differences
By Martin Jacques
The Beijing Olympics are a huge occasion for China. Ever since the Opium Wars, the country has experienced what it describes as a "century of humiliation." Extraordinarily, the handover of Hong Kong in 1997 was its first major foreign policy success since the early 19th century.

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The next US president must clarify how he or she will confront Asian nations' newfound clout
By Vishakha Desai
In one of the longest US presidential campaigns in history, neither party has addressed one of the most critical issues of the day: How can the US successfully integrate its domestic concerns with an increasingly competitive global marketplace?

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As Taiwan goes to the presidential polls, it is imperative the nation notes and understands the situation in Tibet. For those Taiwanese who dream of becoming an integral part of China, it is important to understand that the treatment of Tibet and Tibetans is only a small sample of what lies in store for Taiwan should it become part of China.

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