After rolling out the red carpet for China, Chirac is trying his level best to squelch Taiwan’s small oasis of freedom away from China’s communist mainland. He doesn’t like the idea of the Taiwanese having a referendum on the issue of Chinese missiles pointed their way.On Monday, President Chirac told his visiting Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao that holding the poll in Taiwan would be a "grave mistake" and a threat to stability in South East Asia. The French leader also reaffirmed his backing of a "one China" policy and warned Taiwan against "breaking the status quo". Status quo, indeed. Does anyone notice a pattern here? The reason France has been working so hard at maintaining the status quo lately is that that’s the only way it can stop its steady slide. Chirac can try his best. Thankfully, we all know how effective that is. |