Taiwan

Leading the world towards a more secure international order requires the United States pursue our long-term interests while answering to a higer standard. The same goes for getting Iran to play by the global ruleset. Yet both have been systematically undermined by our willingness to proliferate nuclear technology to India, disregarding our leadership role in the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Now, our own Jeffrey Lewis is reporting that what many thought was a one-off incident, the unauthorized movement of nuclear weapons from one military base to another, is actually part of a broader dysfunction in the management of our nuclear forces. If we cannot even control our own nuclear program, how can we expect others to?

BAR CODES: Ghana considers adding bar codes to its ballots to protect against errors and fraud.

TAIWAN REFERENDUM DIDN'T MEASURE UP: Foreign observers took a hard look at procedures in the Taiwanese referenda on joining the U.N., and didn't like what they saw.

NO VOTE ON OIL PIPELINE: The Bulgarian opposition has blocked an effort to let Bulgarians vote on whether to establish an oil pipeline. The pipeline has been passed by Parliament. The winner? Vladimir Putin.  Russia can use the pipeline to send its oil from the Black Sea to the Aegean.

JOINING THE IRISH? Czech communists are proposing a national referendum of the Lisbon Treaty.

MONKS BARRED FROM BALLOT: Burmese monks won't be able to vote in their country's constitutional referendum, an election that clearly won't meet any common sense standard of fairness.

The Taiwanese presidential election Saturday of either Kuomingtang (KMT)'s Ma Ying-jeou or Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s Frank Hsieh will likely bring further economic integration between China and Taiwan. The China-friendly KMT favors deeper economic ties with China than the DPP, but both parties appear to be leaning toward economic liberalization policies such as relaxing the control on the 40% of capital cap on Taiwanese investment into China, facilitating tourist travel, and allowing the struggling Taiwanese banking sector to invest in China. Signs from Beijing indicate they are also willing to support increased economic ties.

Snapshot asks, will greater economic ties bring Taiwan closer to China's political orbit?

JPMorgan Chase - Taiwan: the post-election economic landscape
Bloomberg - Taiwan Election Will Thaw China Ties, Sooner or Later
Financial Times - Taiwan Reverses Ban on China Investment
Hoover Institution - Election 2008 and the Future of Cross-Strait Relations

This Saturday, the Taiwanese go to the polls. Among the items on the ballot is a referendum on whether the country should join the United Nations under the name Taiwan. (Its membership as China ended in 1971).

China opposes the referendum, arguing that Taiwan should be part of China. Countries all over the world, including the United States, are siding with the Chinese. The Wall Street Journal, that supposed champion of "free people and free markets", writes admiringly of how China's "quiet" campaign to line up a coalition of countries opposing the vote. It is one thing to argue for a no vote on the referendum -- but quite another for democratic countries to argue that the people of another democracy should not be able to vote on a key national question. 

The Czech government says no. But anti-war groups and others there are calling for a referendum on the government's plans to host installations that would be part of a U.S. missile defense scheme. Polls show most Czechs don't want to be a part of U.S. missile defense either. The International Herald Tribune reports on a demonstration by those demanding a referendum.

MORE TAIWAN BASHING: Add Bulgaria and Iceland to countries that think the Taiwanese people shouldn't be able to vote on whether to join the U.N. In doing so, these countries are showing they value their relations with China, which opposes the March 22 referendum, more than they do democratic principles. These announcements put Europe firmly in agreement with the North Koreans in opposing this vote. How do you say shame in Bulgarian?

QUEBECOIS BACK OFF REFERENDUM: The Quebecois party drops its demand of a referendum on sovereignty within six months.

NO VOTE FOR EU TREATY: Brits want to vote on the highly unpopular EU Reform Treaty, also known as the Lisbon Treaty. This is the new European Union treaty negotiated last year to replace the proposed EU constitution that Dutch and French voters previously rejected on the ballot. What’s important about the constitution to those interested in blockbuster democracy? It includes a provision for a EU-wide referendum – which would be the first example of a transnational referendum in the world.

Aaah, but Labor PMs vote not to put the matter to a vote of the people. Of the 27 member states in the EU, only Ireland will let its people vote on the treaty.

NO SUPERVISION FOR BURMESE VOTE: No UN observers at Myanmar’s constitutional referendum. The junta, which killed and imprisoned monks during a crackdown against anti-government demonstrations last September, has banned speeches or writings about the referendum. The Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi would be banned under the proposed constitution from running for office because she was married to a foreigner.