Personal Dork Assistant

We Come In Peace (Shoot to Kill)

Taiwan politics is a cesspool of festering corruption at the best of times, no matter which side you're on. But then politicians everywhere are pretty much the same way, so the most one might hope for is at least the pretension of moral fortitude. Perhaps the new KMT administration couldn't do much about the global financial crisis and the world-wide economic slow-down (even though they said they could). But it would be nice if they wouldn't be such a bunch of pussies.

Taiwan's president on Wednesday ruled out a visit to his island by the Dalai Lama, a gesture likely to please rival China, and give new impetus to rapidly improving relations across the volatile Taiwan Strait.

The comments by Ma Ying-jeou followed reports earlier this week that the Tibetan spiritual leader wants to come to Taiwan in 2009, in what would be his third trip to the island in the past 11 years.

One off-hand comment by the Dalai Lama to a Taiwanese reporter about visiting Taiwan, and the nominal President immediately calls a press conference with all the foreign correspondents telling the world that Taiwan wants nothing to do with a Nobel Peace Prize laureate. "President" Ma's China-appeasement policies makes Neville Chamberlain seem like a mighty statesman in comparison. I guess the Dalai Lama is only one man, and an ascetic man at that. So he can't possibly bring the same economic benefits as all the mainland Chinese tourists who aren't flocking to Taiwan.