The Enter Stage Right Site of the Month

Taiwan Security Research

Recent news that Taiwan is allowing some commercial shipping from China and the publication of Bill Gertz's The China Threat: How the People's Republic of China Targets America has reminded people that Western interests in the Pacific and their protection are as vital as ever, not only for our sakes but for the people of Taiwan. The press, however, treats the story like a fad and few ever devote sufficient resources to understanding the forces at play.

Taiwan Security Research is one of the few credible sources of information on all aspects of the China-Taiwan dance that flares into anger every few months. The web site is essentially one large log of articles that appear in publications around the world and are divided into broad categories: regional issues, U.S.-China, stories on China's military, the "one China" approach favoured by the mainland, trade and the World Trade Organization, and the links between the two sovereign nations. English-language stories from sources as diverse as the Taipei Times, South China Morning Post, New York Times, Newsweek, Washington Post, Japan Times and Asia Times -- among others -- are linked to seemingly as soon as they appear.

Maintained by Dr. Philip Yang, Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at National Taiwan University, the web site was created "to serve as a confidence-building measure (CBM) by providing timely, objective and balanced information to those concerned with the maintenance of peace and security across the Taiwan Straits and the Asia-Pacific region. It is the belief of the website administrator that the Taiwan security issue is not merely a question of regional security, but one of the most important foreign policy problems of this new century."

Given what people like Gertz have reported in the past, Yang may not be exaggerating. If you don't know enough to have an opinion, Taiwan Security Research should be an immediate stop.

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