China fears protests as torch arrives
　

NOT INTERESTED: German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Chancellor Angela Merkel said they were not planning to attend the Olympic opening ceremony

AFP AND AP, BEIJING AND BRDO PRI KRANJU, SLOVENIA
Monday, Mar 31, 2008, Page 1

China braced against further protests yesterday as it prepared for the arrival of the Olympic torch today amid reports of fresh disturbances in Lhasa.

Beijing tightened security in Tiananmen Square, where the Olympic torch will be officially welcomed to the country today before beginning a worldwide relay expected to be dogged by protests over the unrest in Tibet.

Tension in the Himalayan region continued to simmer, the Tibetan government-in-exile and activist groups said.

On Saturday, a disturbance occurred when hundreds of people in Lhasa panicked as police moved in to check residents' identity papers there, the International Campaign for Tibet and the Free Tibet Campaign said.

The incident prompted police to surround key Buddhist temples in the area and close many shops.

No violence was reported.

At Tiananmen Square, authorities announced new spot checks on visitors to "strengthen public security" ahead of the ceremony to welcome the torch, a government Web site said.

Fears of global embarrassment for China along the torch's route have grown since protesters disrupted the lighting ceremony in Ancient Olympia last Monday.

Exiled Tibetans in India yesterday lit an "independence torch" that will also be taken around the world.

Meanwhile, police in Nepal's capital Kathmandu baton-charged protesters -- most of them Tibetans -- during a demonstration outside a Chinese embassy office, detaining more than 100 people, police and witnesses said.

China continued its crackdown on the Tibetan unrest, with Xinhua reporting late on Saturday that police had arrested 26 people and seized guns and other weapons from a monastery.

Beijing also fired Tibet's top official for minority and religious affairs, Chinese state media said yesterday.

Danzeng Langjie, director of Tibet's Ethnic Minority and Religious Affairs Commission, has been "removed" from his post, a statement posted on the Web site of the Tibet Daily newspaper said.

It gave no further details on Danzeng's background or reasons for his removal.

It said he had been replaced by Luosang Jiumei, another ethnic Tibetan who has been vice secretary of the Chinese Communist Party committee of Lhasa since 2004.

The change was believed to be the first by Beijing since the demonstrations began.

In Slovenia, the EU foreign ministers expressed "strong concern" on Saturday about violence in Tibet, but skated around the issue of China's role in the unrest.

Germany said it would not send any ministerial-level participants to the Olympics opening ceremony. German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, President Horst Koehler and Chancellor Angela Merkel said they did not plan to go to Beijing.

Before the two-day EU meeting, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner ruled out an EU boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games in August, but saw a need for a "European response" to the crackdown.

The response was mild and brief.

In a statement, the EU ministers did not mention the Aug. 8 to Aug. 24 Olympic Games or link China directly to the crackdown.

The ministers reiterated their "strong concern over the events in the autonomous Chinese region of Tibet, [called] for an end to the violence and [asked] that arrested persons be treated in conformity with international standards."

Diplomats said the EU was content to appeal for a peaceful resolution and leave it at that.

On Tuesday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy was the first European leader to suggest that a boycott of the opening ceremony was a possibility to protest China's handling of the unrest in Tibet.

'Face' in door appears on Japanese TV
　

By Hsieh Yin-chung
STAFF REPORTER
Monday, Mar 31, 2008, Page 2
　

Residents claim that a section of the grain of a wooden door in a Chiayi County house resembles the face of the man who built it more than 100 years ago, attracting the attention of a foreign TV station.

Liu Ming-chih (劉明智), a village elder, said the likeness was not the result of any human intervention.

The home is located in Anching Village (安靖), Meishan Township (梅山), Chiayi County, which is familiar to people interested in the history of Chinese migration to Taiwan.

The home belongs to the Yangs, but stands empty because the family has moved away, said Lo Ching-chou (羅清洲), the village chief.

Liu said the Yangs claimed the "face" in the door resembled that of the man who built the house.

Japanese TV station NHK sent a crew to do a report on the door on Friday.

In addition to the "face" in the door, Lo said the paintings in the lobby of the house were also worth seeing.

Taiwan can take a page from Teddy Roosevelt
　

By Alex Liebman
Monday, Mar 31, 2008, Page 8

Taiwanese voters have overwhelmingly elected Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) with a 17 percent margin. The KMT now has control of the legislature, the presidency and most local governments. In short, the KMT now enjoys the strongest political position it has held since the beginning of open, democratic politics in Taiwan. But now the difficult task of governing starts, and no issue will be more difficult than to manage cross-strait relations. My advice to Ma in this endeavor is to follow the lead of Theodore Roosevelt, the US president from 1900 to 1909: "Speak softly and carry a big stick."

China greeted Ma's election with a mixture of "cautious optimism" and relief that they no longer have to deal with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁). For at least four years, Beijing will not be exasperated by a leadership in Taipei proposing de jure separation.

The fundamental problem with Chen's approach to cross-strait relations was that he insisted on poking his finger in China's eye without having the political capital necessary to strengthen Taiwan's defenses should Beijing lash out as a result. In February 2006 he closed the National Unification Council, further aggravating his already testy relations with Beijing.

Since his election in 2000, Chen's actions have only added fuel to China's military modernization, giving the People's Liberation Army (PLA) a ready rationale to demand more funding. It has also contributed to the deployment of more than 1,000 ballistic missiles in Fujian Province opposite Taiwan. In this way Chen's actions have only contributed to the deterioration of Taiwan's security situation, not to mention potentially dragging the US into a dangerous conflict.

However, the KMT is not entirely blameless, either. Each time Chen sought to purchase a package of defensive weapons from the US, the KMT and its allies in the legislature were able to defeat the measure -- more than 62 times. It is unclear if the KMT was merely trying to restrain Chen or if they actually did not want to make the purchase. Ma declined to reveal his position.

Here is where Roosevelt comes in. When Ma does come to power, he should take a page from Roosevelt's playbook. He does not advocate an independent Taiwan, so speaking softly should be fairly easy: Ma is unlikely to provoke China with statements or symbolic actions. He should revive the unification council, push the discussions for direct transportation links and reduce restrictions on Taiwanese investment in China. For Beijing, this will represent an immediate and tangible improvement over Chen.

But Ma must also not forget the second half of Roosevelt's dictum. He must continue to prepare Taiwan's military for potential conflict. This means that he should continue military exercises and computer simulations of a Chinese attack to maintain readiness, and that he should ensure the KMT legislators approve the purchase of weapons from the US. Beijing will undoubtedly raise a stink, but its Taiwan policy has become far more rational and measured than in the past.

If the purchase is timed to coincide with signals that Ma does not plan to move toward independence, it will go a long way toward conciliating China. Ma has the advantage that almost anything he does will look good compared to Chen.

In short, speaking softly and carrying a big stick will allow Ma to give China the "face" it needs for its own domestic purposes even as Taiwan maintains its ability to deter an attack. Taking common sense steps to improve its military capabilities while keeping quiet about independence is advantageous for the US, for China and for Taiwan itself. Hopefully, Ma's election will move us in that direction.

Alex Liebman is a doctoral candidate in Harvard University's government department.