I have been reading for some time the total claptrap that your writer Gwynne Dyer spews forth in The Baltic Times. The latest is "Washington drums up the Chinese bogeyman" (March 17 's 23, 2005). He is an anti- U.S.A., anti-Bush, leftist, socialist and, what is worse, ignores the facts and can't see beyond his rosy tinted glasses.
I invest in emerging markets, especially in Asia and the Baltics. I am especially keen on the risks - the geopolitical risks. The Chinese'sTaiwan situation is the most serious matter. Probably the second most dangerous in the world. (The most serious is Iran acquiring the bomb, when Iran has pledged to destroy Israel.)
China has built 200 new warships. They have been training a million men on Hainan Island on amphibious operations and are close to ready. If you turn on any of nine communist TV stations, you will be in for a shock to listen to military guys and others in conservative suits talk about getting Taiwan back. Scary Big Brother, with complete brainwashing propaganda. They have passed a "law" formally authorizing an invasion if Taiwan "declares independence".
Taiwan is already independent, free and democratic. China's Internet is blocked and censored, while Taiwan's is not. Incidentally, the Nationalist Party lost, the opposition won the election. That is the problem. The opposition was always free before KMT took the island. (The island didn't belong to China in the first place. It was Formosa, not China.)
As long as the old Nationalists were in control, China could accept the status quo 's a continuation of the old Civil War. But now with the Nationalists out, that is unacceptable, since it risks their entire system. The idea that Chinese can be free and independent can lead to the downfall of the communist system itself. China has used its clout to prevent Taiwan from being in the U.N and even having the most basic rights as a people and country. The United States has been wishy'swashy, two-faced and trying to tiptoe on the fence. China has misread this and has ramped up its propaganda.
An alarmed U.S.A. is now quietly stating that "We won't allow them to take that country by force." Japan, also greatly alarmed, is in the process of signing its first defensive treaty since World War II with Taiwan.
One only needs to remember 's the seizure of the Baltics by Stalin 's to recognize the terrible situation the Taiwanese are in. I suggest that you drop Mr. Dyer from your newspaper as he is completely out of step with the situation and the facts; time and time again. His articles are full of errors and bias.
Max Zavanelli
Vilnius
