"A Comet of Cooperation"

Last night as I was walking to dinner, I viewed a bright light off to the west. Since my university sits on the flight path for Regan National Airport here in DC at first I thought it was an airplane, but for the five or so minutes I stared at it, it didn't really move. What it was I was not exactly sure, but I thought perhaps it was a comet, so off I went browsing the internet. Sure enough I came across the beauty to the right. While I doubt that this is what I saw, this comet is at its closest point of orbit to the Earth TONIGHT!

Her name (do we apply the female pronoun to stars?) is Lulin and she is named after the observatory which took her first photograph, Lulin Observatory in Nantou, Taiwan. It was these images that 19 year old Quanzhi Ye, a student at Sun Yat-sen University in mainland China was pouring over when he made the discovery in 2007.

Astronomy is just one of the areas that has seen increased cooperation between the two countries in recent years. Chinese telescopes are by and large weaker than their Taiwanese counterparts. Thus, in recent years astronomers from China and Taiwan have increased collaboratio. Chinese astronomers select areas of the sky for the Taiwanese observaories to watch and photograph.. The result of this partnership, is the discovery of Comet C/2007 N3, aprly nicknamed "Coment of Cooperation."

But not all people are jumping on this idea, as a China Post article makes note that the discovery was hailed as a local find without mention of the Chinese in the mainstream Taiwanese media.

This discovery comes at a time when the relationship between Taiwan and China has been strengthened, or at least their annimosity has weakened. Snce July 61,000 tourists made visits between the two nations, on highly oganized tours. July also marked the begining of the first direct flights between the two nations, planes have to travel through Hong Kong airspace.

At the end of January, in time for the Chinese New Year, a pair of pandas went on display at the Taipei Zoo. They were a gift from China as a symbolic gesture to the newly elected Taiwanese President Ma Ying Jeou, who was elected after urging more economic ties with the mainland and promising not to push independence for the self-ruled island [it probably didn't help that Ma's predesesor Chen Shui Bian, an ardent supporter of independence, is currently in jail awaiting trial on corruption and money-laundering charges.] Together the panda's names mean "reunion" and as a USA Today article commented, "...they're the cuddliest sign of warmer diplomatic ties between China and Taiwan."

Pandas, flights, and stars aside, let's not forget that China does keep 1,300 missiles pointed at Taiwan. The same USA Today article points out that Chinese President Hu Jintao, in a speech on Dec. 31, raised the goal of a peace agreement and did not repeat Beijing's usual threat of violence if Taiwan declares independence but he did maintain the condition of "One China," which is something most Taiwanese do not want. A recent poll in the pro-nationalist magazine Commonwealth showed that 80% of Taiwan adults surveyed oppose becoming part of China.

This increased partnership is not a result of Pandas and tourists, but a result of the commercial trade of goods. As the Council on Foreign Relations explains:

"China entered the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 and, within a month, Taiwan entered as “Chinese Taipei.” Since entering the WTO, China and Taiwan have lowered or lifted tariffs, and eased restrictions on investment, direct trade, and tourism. The volume of two-way trade across the Taiwan Strait marked $115 billion in 2006, up from $8 billion in 1991. In 2005, investments in mainland China accounted for more than half of Taiwan’s overseas investment and Taiwan ranked in the top ten of foreign direct investors in China in 2005 and 2006. China also has become Taiwan’s top export partner and its second-largest import partner."

The question is where does the relationship go from here? Taiwan has long been the elephant in the room, when Chinese and American leaders meet. On Febuary 13th National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair, arguably Obama's top intellegance official, suggested that last year China's budget for military spendng jumped 17.6 per cent to about 61 billion USD, much of which is focused on Taiwan. THe US is required to provide Taiwan with weapon's to defend itself and has hinted in the past that it would come to Taiwan's aid if the mainland tried to invade or force its aquisition. In the last year of the Bush administration, the 6.5 USD billion arms package provided for Taiwan caused a breakdown in the Sino-American relationship.

It will be interesting to see how China-US foreign policy is shaped under the new President's administration. Even as Secretary of State Clinton is in China [which I talked about yesterday], key members of the federal government are arguing about who will handle what aspects of the relationship with China. Clinton clearly wants a large role, as does US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner. The Vice President's Office wants a leadership role in the relationship with China. Former Washington State Governor Gary Locke who is expected to be announced tomorrow as the Secretary-Designate of Commerce has a long and positive relationship working with the Chinese government. People inside the Beltway expect Obama to unfold key US policy towards China at the G20 this coming April, many are anticipating an announcement on Carbon Emission policy, whether Taiwan will be part of the agenda is unclear.

Tomorrow, I plan on summerizing what we know about Obama's policy towards China thus far.