Fires Of The Dragon: Politics, Murder, And The Kuomintang
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The Clinton administration's new coziness with China has left India feeling insecure, Taiwan betrayed, and Japan ignored.
George W. Bush was right to rebuke Taiwan's president over his plans for a referendum on relations with China. Administration critics assume that democracy and independence are inseparable, that the "one China" principle is no longer useful, and that China would never go to war over Taiwan. But they are wrong on all three counts and fail to appreciate the dangers that may lie ahead.
American optimism about East Asia, in precious short supply only a few years earlier, was abundantly available in 1980. "The arc from Korea through Taiwan and the Philippines, at the very center of great power rivalry for much of this century, is less subject to these strains today than at any time in well over forty years," Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke declared in June. Such pronouncements by U.S. policymakers were understandable: East Asia offered far more possibilities--for diplomatic overtures, for expanding trade--than anyone dared predict during the Vietnam era. But in 1980 enough warning signals were flashing throughout the region to suggest the need for a more balanced--and less buoyant--assessment.

User Comments
Kaplan's accuracy
Since Kaplan's reviewed Book described the successful lawsuit by Liu's wife - against the Government of Taiwan - the amount of the award and charges that U.S. NSA evesdropping surfaced the plot before it happened (which have not been refuted), the reviewer's use of the word alleged brings new meaning to the word.
Alians were convicted and a foreign government lost in a U.S. court and an amount was awarded, with regard to the Henry Liu murder.
Except for persons who are in denial, the allegation phase usually ends with trial outcomes. Then terms like conviction and judgment are used. And, sometimes, appeal.