Taiwanese politicians getting the picture

While many of their countrymen are joining in China's denunciation of Japan for history textbooks that gloss over Japanese wartime atrocities, some Taiwanese politicians are realizing that their greatest threat is not the Japan of sixty years ago, but the China of today. As Taiwan's Central News Agency reports:

Taipei, April 10 (CNA) The opposition Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU), a political ally of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party in the Legislative Yuan, called on the government Sunday to strengthen the country's strategic cooperation with Japan to counterbalance China's military buildup.

The TSU's statement comes on the heels of a trip to Japan last week by its Chairman, Shu Chin-chiang.

While in Japan, Shu (as Japundit has noted) visited Yasukuni shrine, which honors Japan's war dead, including its war criminals. But Yasukuni is also dedicated to the spirits of some 28,000 Taiwanese who died in the war, and Shu said his visit was meant to honor them, not Japan's militarists.

Nevertheless, when he returned to Taiwan on Tuesday, Shu was met at the airport by angry protesters, who pelted him with eggs.

As the Taipei Times reports, Shu thinks his countrymen's obsession with on Japan's past misdeeds is missing the point. His own outrage is aimed at other Taiwanese politicians, who recently visited Beijing, even as it threatens Taiwan with attack:

"It is ironic that some political parties [try] to stigmatize my visit to Japan, yet justify their collaboration with China," Shu said.

"China has 700 missiles pointed at Taiwan ... they are the ones who embrace militarism," he said.

Good point.