I ended up back at the bunks of my east coast friends and got to talking with the Taiwanese across the way. They were part of a giant group of Taiwanese students travelling around China and I ended up meeting two of their anglophone friends as they walked by. I learned a great deal about Taiwanese politics from these two. If you already are familiar with Taiwanese politics, stop reading because the information is quite basic, but it was largely new to me. While I knew that the GuoMinDang decamped to the island with the Chinese national treasury and a huge number of supporters in tow, I was under the impression they outnumbered the orginal inhabitants of Taiwan, which they didn't. In fact, since Taiwan has become democratic the ethic taiwanese (as opposed to those recently from the mainland) have sought to reestablish power, and largely support the fairly pro-independence party of current president Chen Shui Bian. The decendents of the GuoMinDang's followers are largely in support of the status quo and the idea of eventual reunification, though the new generation is less rigidly split along the same lines as their parents. Lucky for pro-reunification voices on both sides of the strait, though, Chen Shui Bian is corrupt as all get out, has funneled significant cash to family members, and has probably set his party back significantly. Most of the Taiwanese who left Taiwan, however, are those originally from the island who felt pushed out by the newcomers, thus emigrating to places like America. As a result, we have the relatively pro-independence stance of much of the overseas Taiwanese community. Man, I love politics!
EAP China! Robert Klein.