Using trade as a diplomatic tool, the Chinese communists are luring Taiwan into more and more business relationships. Using honey rather than clubs to bind other nations is working for China. They are also defusing a possible war while still gaining their goal of assimilating Taiwan back into China again.
There is a banana overproduction crisis in Taiwan.
By Ting-I TsaiTAIPEI - Nowadays in Taiwan anything can become very political, even eating bananas. Overproduction of the fruit has become an issue in the island's internal politics and relations with mainland China.
Without a government subsidy, banana harvest time usually means headache time for farmers in Taiwan. The headache, furthermore, might turn into a nightmare next March, when the real banana-harvest season arrives on southern Taiwan's major farms. Evidence of an orange oversupply is also setting off the alarm bells.
This year banana overproduction has escalated into a cross-strait political issue, because of Beijing's desire to win the hearts and souls of Taiwanese farmers, most of whom support President Chen Shui-bian and his pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). That is forcing the Taiwanese government to find a solution for the longtime problem.
Beijing saw this as a golden chance to demonstrate its concern, and announced amid an agricultural conference being held with Taiwan's opposition Kuomintang (KMT) party on October 16 that it would import 2,000 tons of Taiwanese bananas.
The first shipment, 30 tons, departed for the mainland's Fujian province on Monday, while KMT officials and legislators urged the Taiwanese government to give a green light to a "direct link" of banana transportation.
As alas, I have been 100% right on the topic of Chinese diplomacy and trade. For example, here is an earlier article from my old blog about how the Chinese government uses pandas for diplomatic purposes.
The first pandas were brought over to America to demonstrate joint friendship and a desire to form alliances. But now this is all gone and we are trying to shove the entire planet into eternal wars with all of Muslim and all Chinese as well as kicking in the Russians, Venezuelans and a host of other people, seemingly endless list.The American zoos are under the impression they were makinga business deal to make easy money for themselves sort of like how we kidnap killer whales and put them into clown acts at aquariums. The Chinese have stringent rules for their cuddly diplomats so they can't be forced to dance or jump through hoops or in other ways, entertain drooling masses of screaming children.
When the Nationalist Party surrendered to the mainland Chinese last spring, the first thing the Communist Central Committee did was try to send a diplomatic envoy panda to Taiwan which the government there rejected. The push to declare Taiwan a sovereign nation constantly flounders on the rocks of reality: the main trading partner for Taiwan in the future will be China, not the USA or Japan.
Japan hates 'trade' that is two way so they try desperately to restrict trade with Taiwan just like they restrict trade with the USA. So instead of strengthening ties with fellow nations in Asia, they cause anger and countermoves.
China's ruling elites play the trade game as if they are playing the ancient strategy game of Go. They want to not occupy all possible sites but rather, surround them in a 'soft' way so the captive doesn't notice. This is why the Boeing contracts were negotiated with the both Hu and Wen and not just 'some coporate entity' in China. The Chinese are aware of the giant trade deficit they enjoy with the USA and they know that Boeing is part of our military/industrial complex and our rulers want Boeing to be strong and so they won't tip the banana cart just to stop the Chinese economic domination of America if this means Boeing will be very rich and made stronger by the Chinese.
The Chinese also figure, Boeing can't afford to lose them as customers since the only other big one is the UAE, the country that hosted some of the 9/11 attackers, and the UAE is trying to take over key American industries, too, for obvious reasons. So both countries use their money from selling stuff (oil or goods) to America in order to buy American things and places and industries.
This plan is working 100% here and the Taiwanese government hates this and doesn't want it for themselves but they have no choice since they are being beaten raw by the Japanese who have perfected the art of parasitism in trade. Japan is building factories in America in an equally successful bid to hamstring American foreign trade policies.
Unable to outwit or outmuscle these Asian nations, we get devoured.
China will eventually devour Taiwan because this is logical and a historical imperative. We wasted much of our diplomatic and economic strength trying to bring down Baby Dragon, aka, North Korea. This was at Japan's behest. The Japanese worry about both Koreas and has tried to control or conquer Korea repeatedly in history. Lots of bad blood there, literally.
The USA shouldn't waste time and energy trying to stop China from reunification any more than we could stop Germany, Vietnam or should stop Korea.
I will be erecting a Taiwan banana table down on main Street In Northampton on Saturday. I'm inviting people to come and just stuff themselves with honey-drenched Taiwan banana!!! Each banana, branded with a little Taiwan flag, will be numbered. Whoever eats the most will get an expense-paind trip to camp out on a Taiwan banana plantation for a week [mosquito-netting furnished gratis.]. These farmers sorely need our help here. [Contestants to be selected from my personal list of croneys.]
WE MUST HELP THEM!!! [MANY restrictions WILL apply. Doctor's certificate and relevant vaccinations required.] But the sheer sugar surge will keep you hopping for a week!!! DO IT!!!
Posted by: blues | October 30, 2006 at 11:03 AM
Let's send the bananas to Mexico. It is, after all, a banana republic and has too few bananas.
DON'T sent them to DC: we want to STARVE Bush out of the White House, not supply him with his native dish!
Posted by: Elaine Meinel Supkis | October 30, 2006 at 02:25 PM