Time was when China would lure Taiwan's diplomatic allies away from Taiwan. But back in 2008, Ma Ying-jeou of the Chinese Nationalist Party was elected president of Taiwan. And the hemorrhaging suddenly stopped.
Whether rightly or wrongly, President Ma was able to take some kind of credit for that.
So it must have come as quite a slap to the face when China sandbagged Ma. Only instead of swiping one of Taiwan's allies, as was its previous custom, this time it seized 14 Taiwanese citizens on foreign soil instead. And had them extradited to the P.R.C. to stand trial.
There are some who might not call this an improvement.
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Postscript: "Beijing Bob", at Taiwan's China Post, predictably characterizes China's effrontery as, "No loss of Taiwan's national sovereignty."
Which merits a Swiftian-style Modest Proposal: If Taiwan truly doesn't suffer any loss of national sovereignty when its citizens are tried in Chinese Communist courts, then wouldn't Taiwanese interests be even better-served by simply abolishing its own law courts entirely and subsequently shipping all of its criminals to China? Think of the time, effort, and most importantly, the MONEY that could be saved.
And the best part is, there would be no downside. Consider:
a) There would be no loss of national sovereignty, as the China Post -- the most honest newspaper in the history of the world -- assures us.
b) Only vicious Sinophobes question the integrity, political neutrality and fierce commitment to the rule of law that is the solid bedrock of the Chinese judicial system.
c) As people of Chinese descent (and members of the Chinese "race-nation"), Taiwanese can rest easy that they will be treated more-than-fairly under Chinese law. After all, "blood IS thicker than water" . . . and the judge and prosecutors in the courtroom will be "son's of the Yellow Emperor", too.
(Or son's of somethings, at any rate.)
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