(Posted by John.)
Staying with the Asian politics theme, Angelica has some insights as to why Taiwan's DPP is busy trying to unseat an unpopular president. If I understand correctly, it has more to do with inter-party rivalries within the opposition Pan-Blues than anything else.
A thousand miles northeast, there seems to be some glimmering signs of hope with the relationship between Japan and China. Basically, the Chinese seem to be saying that they're willing to let bygones be bygones when Japanese PM Koizumi leaves office. Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni shrine have been only the most public of his policy of appealing to conservative Japanese nationalists, and have made him persona non grata in Beijing (and, it should be said, other Asian capitals.)
