The importance of symmetry in luggage

So it's the end of a yet another week in Taiwan, with stints in both Hsinchu and Taipei. No time for a stroll or a'wander this time, but i'll be back next month, after Barcelona, Seoul and Shanghai. Shame that I will miss Chinese New Year in the region.

Reading the Taiwanese press is amusing (it's 'Partisan'). President Chen was elected upon a platform of fiery rhetoric regarding a move to claim independence from China - incensing Beijing. Chen is no longer so popular, so when the polls dip, like a machine politician, he returns to the rhetoric. What does history tell me? If the mainland Chinese and Taiwanese focus on making money (like their cousins in Hong-Kong), then the status quo will continue for at least the next generation (it takes generation changes for policies and parties to weaken - look at Eastern Europe from 1945 to 1990). There are lots of business ties (and investments) between the PRC and the ROC. Politics won't be allowed to get in the way. Not even the supreme bureaucrat Hu Jintao has absolute power.

It's a bit worrying that the administration of Chen is pursuing politics through the courts, as it chases businessmen who found legal loopholes to invest in China. If Taiwan, sharing common language, culture and history with China, cannot invest there (amongst the World's fastest growing economies), its own growth will slacken (take note India, Pakistan & Bangladesh).

In the tech sector, especially semiconductors, China cannot meet its own domestic needs. Much of their domestic needs are fairly low-tech, commodity devices. The Taiwanese can easily service this demand and still compete with the USA, Japan & Europe (especially in chips for consumer electronics, where Taiwan actually leads them, if you analyse the fundamentals) on advanced technlogies. It's a golden opportunity that the current Taiwanese administration may fumble. But then, never count the Taiwanese out.

What's happenin' - packing, mostly. I got a couple of pairs of trail running shoes to pound those lbs off, as well as some decent travel speakers for my MP3 player.

Working on - work, obviously, but also writing 'The Syndicate'

Thinking about - the line 'Beunos dias boobydoos'

Need to get - CDs, man! Also a decent microphone. Perhaps another MP3 player too - the controls on my jukebox have gone tits-up

Link for the month - A Softer World

Oh, and kudos to Aunt Patty - she has great dumplings.