"Nothing of the sort. I would like East Asia to be its own charmingly autonomous geopolitical self."
'East Asia' autonomous? Whaaaaa? Oil? Trade? Reliance on US military protection?
And regarding the earlier comments about the political model that the Chinese leadership could turn to if one-party rule starts to come apart: I've heard rumors that it's Japan's LDP, i.e. one-party rule with more of a sheen of democracy than the People's Congress system currently in place. China is emphatically *not* looking at Taiwan as a political model. We're now witnessing perhaps the death of the KMT in Taiwan, and the CCP is very concerned about stability and self-preservation.
Cheers,
Jonathan
---------------------------------------------------------------- This message was sent using IMP, the Internet Messaging Program.