Madman of Chu has a great essay on some of the themes touched upon by US President George Bush in Japan earlier this week, and something that liberals and conservatives should be in agreement on (even you Michael, seriously Richard had something nice to say): Mainland China needs to become more like Taiwan.:

Though the success of the democratization of Taiwan is undeniable, the prospects for the “Taiwanization” of China are less than obvious. Within the first week of moving into the men’s dormitory at Tunghai University in 1987 I returned to my room to find that my American roommate Doug had been collared by a young student in the army officer’s training corps who was earnestly delivering a sermon on cross-straits politics. He explained that the situation today was analogous to the days of the early Roman Empire. Though the Christians had been a tiny, persecuted minority then they eventually were able to convert the entire realm, and the people and government of Taiwan would transform China through a comparably subtle organic process.

Doug and I smirked. At the time it seemed like more of the patriotic pabulum dished out by Taiwanese leaders at state occasions, when speeches still regularly referred to the imminent day that the army would “retake the mainland.” Taiwanese leaders no longer indulge in that kind of rhetorical bravado, but as Taiwan’s political system and economy continue to thrive the picture that young officer painted looks less and less fantastic.

Read the whole thing.

While Taiwan’s democracy does have its rough patches, such as the frequent fisticuffs in the Legislative Yuan, Asiapundit would welcome even this in China. (AP would certainly welcome fisticuffs ahead of the end of one-party rule. Central bank governor Zhou Xiaochuan should give the National Development and Reform Commission’s Ma Kai a punch to the head, he deserves it.)

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