Good evening LA! Good evening to all you friends of Taiwan.

Ni Ai Taiwan Ma? Of course you do. We all would not be here unless we did.

Be ready, tonight I am going to ask you to balance many concepts and thoughts in tandem. You will be presented with many images and see many pieces of the puzzle; trust me they will all fit together. By the end of the evening, you should realize and agree with me on Taiwan's key role in Asia; its freedom, identity and democracy must be preserved.

I will start with some visuals; impress these visuals on your mind. I will bring them back at the end of my presentation. You will also have a Q & A period at the end.

1) This first picture is a map of the Austronesian Empire, an island empire. You see Taiwan's keystone position in that empire. Some call it the capital of the Austronesian Empire. This is an element of Taiwan's history that is often neglected. 2) This second picture is a different perspective of Taiwan; what its location really is; it is at the center of convergence of the Eurasian and the Philippine Sea Plates. That is why we have so many earthquakes. It is also at the meeting of the Ryukyu Trench and the Manila Trench. That makes it the opening to the ÒBlue WaterÓ of the Pacific Ocean.

3) These are the Spice IslandsÑthey are what drew Western nations to Asian waters. This is the topic of my new book The Mapping of Taiwan: Desired Economies & Coveted Geographies.

4) This is a map of China in which you can see areas that are classified by many as Chinese Occupied Tibet; Chinese Occupied East Turkestan (AKA Xingjian); Chinese Occupied Inner Mongolia, Free Mongolia; and Taiwan which China wants to occupy.

5) The shallowness of the Taiwan StraitÑwhy Taiwan is a desirable and much coveted geography to China; ChinaÕs Navy with its submarine fleet needs accesses to Blue Water to cut Korea, Japan and RussiaÕs western ports from the rest of Southeast Asia.. 6) Remember what was called the "great game" as Britain and Russia competed for spheres of influence in Central Asia? Taiwan is the piece in the puzzle that hinders the new great game where the Politburo of China seeks to separate and dominate Asia. Hold these visual images in your minds; I will return to them; they also will help you understand where I am going.

With these images in your mind; I am also going to give you fair warning. I am not a panda-hugger. If you read my writings and my blog, you certainly know that. But in case you don't, I will repeat straight out; I am not a panda-hugger. Anyone that expects that will be disappointed; likewise, if anyone expects me to speak with rapturous words about the 5000 years of Chinese history you wonÕt get it. I am not in awe of China; there are things there that impress me there and places and people that I like; you can ask on that in Q & A, but you wonÕt find any awe in this presentation.

Let me now cut to the chase. The real problem in Asia is the hegemony of China; it wants to be the proverbial 800 lb. gorilla. The freedom, democracy and identity of Taiwan are the physical and psychological antithesis of that gorilla. Taiwan gives the lie to the canard of the peaceful rising of China. The Western world needs to deconstruct that rising gorilla. Taiwan will point the way and show it is possible.

About five years ago, I spoke here in LA on Taiwan; at that time I made a strange request that many did not fathom then. I said in 2005 that I felt it was important for Taiwanese to stress the D-word (Democracy) when speaking of Taiwan and not the I-word; (Taiwan's Independence.) I said that, not because I did not believe that Taiwan both is and should be independent but because the "I" word -- Independence -- triggered all sorts of fears in people and made the control freaks and the sheep that follow them in that land on the other side of the Strait go ballistic.

Today, I am going to slightly change my position; I still recognize that the I-word triggers fears in many, but I would hope that by now after five years of reality many will have had the reality of what I will call, the "Duh" experience. Those outside Taiwan should now see how the pundits' mental suppression of the reality of Taiwan's independence was at best misguided. Included in the "Duh" experience should be the realization that items such as the nonsensical name of Chinese Taipei in sporting events is idiotic and dumb; it is an out of date compromise of the 1970s. I can talk to that in Q & A.

What is the "Duh" experience? The Duh experience is found in the past ten years of the US dealing with China with a misguided policy formulated on wishful thinking instead of experience; US policy is influenced by panda-huggers who search for a gravy train in the lucrative markets of China.

Remember how for eight years (2000 to 2008) we had to endure all the pundits saying that the real problem in the triangle of US/China/and Taiwan relations was the irascible nature of Chen Shui-bian? How Chen's insistence that Taiwan have recognition of its dignity, space, identity and nationhood was too challenging? Chen's insistence on Taiwan's rights was supposedly the fly in the ointment? The pundits had their ready made scapegoat in Chen.

Then in 2008, Ma Ying-joke, or Ma Ying-jeou was elected and the pundits cheered. Ma the Placator immediately did what the pundits said needed to be done. Ma began his "policy to defuse" the troubles in the Taiwan Strait. Now that China was not irritated by the irascible Chen, China could show its true face of its so-called Òpeaceful rising.Ó China would help in restoring peace in Asia; China would be a responsible player. Well for two and a half years we have had Ma bowing and scraping to China and doing everything that the pundits said was necessary. Here comes the "Duh" experience.

After two and a half years even a blind man can see that the problem in the triangle of US/China and Taiwan relations was never Chen Shui-bian; the real problem is, was, and continues to be the hegemonic desires of China.

Has China helped with containing the rogue state of North Korea? No. Just recently a South Korean destroyer was sent to the bottom of the sea in what in any other situation would be called an act of war. Did China chastise North Korea etc? ÒDuh.Ó North Korea is ChinaÕs pawn, its bargaining chip. ÒDuh.Ó

Then there was the recent assertion by China that the South China Sea was its Mare Nostrum. This not only scared the hell out of Vietnam but also all the other nations in that area. To follow up, China as a true hegemonic bully said that on this problem, it wanted to deal with each of these states individually and not collectively. Was this China's peaceful rising where the only flaw in the ointment was Chen Shui-bian? "Duh."

It is amusing to me to see the pundits falling all over themselves not only in trying to find another hobby horse to ride but also in searching for another scapegoat now that Chen Shui-bian has been gone for two and a half years. There are many other examples of the ÒduhÓ experience, suffice it to say reality is beginning to sink in.

TaiwanÕs freedom, democracy, and identity are what expose the hegemonic 800 lb. gorilla on the other side of the Taiwan Strait for what it is and it must be deconstructed.

This is not the first time that the United States has faced other gorillas in the world, but the irony is how the US policy makers in our beloved Washington DC have changed tactics. The irony is how those who live within the Beltway and only come out to be wined and dined in China are so easily duped. Their perspective on China is like that the proverbial rider on horseback (zou ma, kan hua); it is not the perspective of those who daily live alongside our irascible and greedy neighbor.

In the past, the US faced a one-party state gorilla in East Germany. They defeated it and the Berlin Wall fell. The US did this not by feeding the gorilla, but by seeing it for what it was. How often have you ever read about US historians, policy-makers, pundits etc. being wined and dined in East Germany?

The US also faced a larger gorilla in the Soviet Union, another one-party state gorilla. Again the US defeated the Soviet Union in the Cold War and watched the splintering of the Soviet Union. Again, it did this not by feeding the gorilla and helping it grow, but by seeing it for what it was. How often were US historians, policy-makers, pundits etc. wined and dined in Russia so they could sing the praises of that country?

Having had a policy that successfully worked twice, is it now not ironic that the US policy makers should decide that in facing a third one-party state gorilla, the best solution is to totally change and feed the gorilla. Am I the only one here that finds this strange? Does anyone else out there want to say, ÒDuh?Ó or perhaps even stronger, ÒWTFÓ over the continuous hegemonic rise of China and the wishful stupidity of pundits?

Examine closely, how many US historians, policy-makers, pundits etc. you read about that run to China to be wined and dined and speak glowingly on how this one-party state gorilla is different from the other one-party state gorillas that spawned it? Where does TaiwanÕs current president fit in this scenario? I will speak in detail in Q & A if you wish. Ma is the one that the pundits in Wash. DC had hailed as the sensible savior; he is also the person who tries to convince us that his placating China Policy is working. For now, I will simply say that there is a reason that he is called Ma Ying-joke by some and Ma Ying-jerk by others and the Phony Pony by others still. Likewise there is a reason that people refer to him as Ma-Teng, Ma the Toilet, an expression that has the same pronunciation as Ma and his Unification Policy.

Let us return to the gorilla. Crucial to the preservation of TaiwanÕs freedom and democracy is for us to deconstruct the China image and see it for what it is. If you read books, it is the fashion to deconstruct most everything nowadays. However the one area that the pundits do not want to touch is their China image. If they did, they would have to face an inconvenient truth. If you deconstruct the panda image of that state, you will lose your invitation to be wined and dined in China. Deconstruct the China panda and you will see it is a dangerous gorilla and not a panda.

ChinaÑnever have so many been ruled by so few. Thus it has been thus the rulers always want it to be; this is the first step to see the China problem; if you are going to deconstruct, this is where we must begin. Not only is it that never have so many been ruled by so few, but never have so many been brainwashed by so few.

A favorite expression of Hu Jintao and many Chinese pundits is that the only real problem is that the West does not understand the Chinese mind and culture. Poor dears. No one understands them. Tell me about it. The reality is the opposite. True Taiwanese do see it for what it is. This is one of the strong points of why Taiwan must remain free and democratic. Let me now change expressions from Duh to a more graceful Hello.

Hu Jintao says we donÕt understand him. What is there to not understand about a country that claims to revere Sun Yat-sen, a man who championed government of the people, by the people and for the people and yet 100 years later has not progressed one iota in that direction. Hello?

What is there to not understand about a country that still does not own up to what really happened in Tianamen Square and stonewalls the mothers and families that lost their sons and daughters. Hello? What is there to not understand about a country that imprisoned Jiang Yanyong, the man who blew the whistle on SARS. He unfortunately also embarrassed the government by saying they should come clean on Tiananmen Square. Later released, he still cannot leave the country. Hello?

What is there to not understand about a country that has also imprisoned this yearÕs Nobel Peace Prize winner, Liu Xiaobo because he was critical of the government?

What is there to not understand about a country that when its number three man, Premier Lin Jiabao recently preached reform, the government purposely blocked his message so that the majority of the people in the country never heard it. Hello? Taiwan fought similar battles years ago; its democracy and freedom exposes this for what it is.

Some pundits will say, well China will come to its senses if we feed the gorilla. I am not one of those. Taiwanese did not get their freedom and democracy by feeding the one-party state that controlled it.

Take another perspective on the gorilla that must be deconstructed. China is a country of paranoid schizophrenics. Say what? ThatÕs right, you heard me correctly. Paranoid schizophrenics. How so? In this, Hu Jintao is right; this is why we donÕt understand China. We find it hard to understand a culture of paranoid schizophrenics. That isnÕt exactly a compliment; but I warned you I am not here to complement. Check the definitions.

Paranoia: A psychotic disorder that is characterized by delusions of persecution or grandeur, often strenuously defended with apparent logic and reason. It is followed by extreme, irrational distrust of others. Seem familiar?

Talk to many Chinese and they will eventually still bring up the shame of the Opium Wars, the shame of something that happened in the Manchu Kingdom over 160 years ago. How many Chinese use that image to claim the West is out to get them? Let me ask you, how many Americans do you know that will tell you that the British burned down the Capital at Wash. DC in 1814? How many Americans then point their fingers at the British and say, you burned our capital, we will never trust you. ThatÕs paranoia. Get over it. As for the difference, ask Taiwanese if they feel the shame of the Opium Wars? Not real Taiwanese.

Next definition, schizophreniaÑa condition that results from the coexistence of disparate or antagonistic qualities, identities, or activities. Examine again how those same Chinese that felt shame find pride in the statement, ÒOverthrow the Qing, restore the Ming; rid China of the hated Manchus.Ó However, when they said restore the Ming, they of course did not mean the borders of Ming. They wanted to keep the borders of the other lands that the Manchus conquered. They explain, ÒSee the Manchus were not Chinese, but the lands they subsequently conquered outside China became China.Ó Sure. Was Chinese occupied Tibet part of the Ming? Was Chinese occupied East Turkestan part of the Ming, Was Taiwan part of the Ming? Was Mongolia, either Inner or Outer part of the Ming? Coexisting disparate qualities? Feel shame for the Qing experience, but seek to overthrow them because they are not Chinese. Disparate thought and logic, this only scratches the surface of the schizophrenia that we supposedly donÕt understand. Consider a further side effect of the condition of paranoid schizophrenia. Chinese must seek megalomaniac leaders. Though they claim to revere Sun Yat-senÕs three principles; what they really want and glory in are megalomaniac leaders like Chiang Kai-shek or Mao Tse-tung. Schizoid? IT GOES DEEPER. This unfortunate reality was bestowed on China by an unchanging hierarchical paradigm from an agricultural Confucius society. Now we are getting into taboo country.

At this point, I want to make one very important distinction. This is the point that some of you grasp but others have not yet realized. That point is that TaiwanÕs history is not ChinaÕs history and ChinaÕs history is not TaiwanÕs history. TaiwanÕs culture is not ChinaÕs culture, and ChinaÕs culture is not TaiwanÕs culture. This is crucial, for then you will see why Taiwan does not have the paranoid schizophrenia that China has. The realm that we are entering here is what I call the realm of the paradigms that drive menÕs souls.

DonÕt believe me? If you want further insight into ChinaÕs character I refer you to Bo Yang; he understood his culture well. Go back and read his book The Ugly Chinaman and you will begin to get a grasp on the paradigms that drive men souls in that land on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

Bo Yang understood the paradigms of China and he even answered the question of why its megalomaniac leaders like Chiang and Mao were never able to lead it in a positive direction. Examine his metaphor of the soy paste vat. It is a metaphor that links to a piece that I wrote, ÒThe Dark Side of Confucianism.Ó Re-read Bo YangÕs The Ugly Chinaman.

Bo as you know was born in China, joined the KMT and fled to Taiwan with CKS but fared no better; he spent 9 years on Green Island for Popeye cartoons. If you read BoÕs Land of the Soy Paste Vat; you will understand the Chinese character a lot better than Hu Jintao would have you believe. I am not saying Bo is right on all he says and that he does not exaggerate at times, but he understood the paradigms that drive menÕs souls and he himself sensed that Chinese were different from Taiwanese.

The paradigms that drive menÕs souls? Heavy stuff? But I tell you that the paradigms that drive the souls of Taiwanese are different from the paradigms that drive the souls of Chinese. Some of you know that; some are becoming aware of it. In Taiwan, the same is going on. More and more Taiwanese are overcoming the brainwashing, and Stockholm Syndrome etc left over from the not too far distant KMT one-party state, martial law, and White Terror days. They are beginning to understand what it is to be Taiwanese. They are beginning to understand that the paradigms that drive the souls of Taiwanese are paradigms built on the experience of an island nation and not a continental nation. Remember those images I showed you at the beginning of this talk?

Allow me to give you the opening lines of the great Chinese classic, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms. They also help to understand the psyche.

ÒThe empire long divided must unite, long united must divide. Thus it has ever been.Ó

These are classic lines. They are lines any writer would wish he had written; what a way to begin a novel. What a dramatic setting they provide.

But there is another aspect here. The writer is saying is something that the sons of the gorilla on the other side of the Strait donÕt want to see exposed. The writer is providing the basis for the paranoid schizophrenia of their mentality, why they continually enter a cycle that never progresses. He writes on why they can never change or progress. Put that together with Bo YangÕs soy paste vat and you will begin to see behind the curtain to the paradigms that drive menÕs souls. As I said, I did not come here to compliment; nor provide you with simple thoughts. The scope of what I am saying goes deeper than the shallowness of trade and cheap products that most pundits can only think of. What I am bringing to your attention here is that Taiwanese have a different character and soul than Chinese and it is crucial for Asia that their freedom, democracy and identity be preserved. Some pundits will try to point out in deference to Hu Jintao, and say look what China did in the Olympics in 2008. How great the leadership is; what a long way it has come. What a great show they put on.

Hello. The Olympics had a price tag of US$43 billion and an unlimited supply of a workforce to accomplish this. Let me refer you to another piece that I wrote, ÒThe PRCÕs Seven Axioms of Peaceful Rising.Ó I wonÕt go into all seven but let me mention one. ÒYou can do anything you set your mind to when you have vision, determination and an endless supply of expendable labor.Ó The key words are Òan endless supply of expendable labor.Ó

Examine, the Olympics in 2004 were done for around US$ 8 billion. With inflation, one would expect that those in 2008 would cost more. Note also that England which has the Olympics in 2012 estimates that it will pull it off for US$12 billion. Say what? Where did US $43 billion come in, plus an unlimited amount of manpower?

Now if you gave me a budget of US$43 billion and an unlimited supply of manpower, I think I could pull off a pretty good Olympics. I think most of you could. So should we believe the pundits who sing the gorillaÕs praises? To gain more insight into deconstructing the gorilla, I refer you to another set of articles that I wrote about the glory of the present day ÒMiddle Kingdom of Pollution, Poison and Propaganda.Ó That is the reality that exposes the paranoid schizophrenia. Somehow people want to hide the Middle Kingdom of Pollution, Poison and Propaganda behind the fabricated mantle of an alleged 5000 years of tradition and culture.

Let me provide a story from a department of Human Resources that will help in gaining insight and in deconstructing the gorilla. A man comes in for an interview; he tells the interviewer that he has 30 years of experience. The interviewer looks at his resume and sees that he has held only one job for 30 years. For 30 years he has been in the same position, doing the same thing, with no progress. The interviewer looks at him strangely and finally says you donÕt have 30 years of experience; you have one year of experience in doing the same thing for 30 years. 5000 years of progress? Examine that please. What really is the 5000 years of culture etc. especially if it ends up with the Middle Kingdom of Pollution, Poison, and Propaganda. Chinese (not Taiwanese) look back to the Tang Dynasty, for greatness and identity; perhaps they even look to the Han Dynasty. Do you ever wonder or worry about the psyche of those who can only look backward. I will also give you another deconstruction clue. The court historian. The court historianÕs job has always depended on him somehow making everything present look great because it was an extension of the past.

There is a new book out China the Pessoptomist Nation by a Professor William A. Callahan at Oxford University; his thinking is much in line with mine and he has a chapter on what he calls ÒChinaÕs Cartography of Humiliation.Ó He too notes the manipulative way that the masses are enticed into feeling paranoid shame.

In US history, European history, etc. you always will find conflicting views. Interpretations will be given and then a revisionist history will arise to counter it. Tell me, why do you never find a revisionist historian of Chinese history? For them, the past can only be glorified. Paranoid Schidzos? You be the judge.

Examine the present Middle Kingdom of Pollution, Poison, and Propaganda.

PollutionÑlast time I checked 16 of the top 20 polluted cities in the world were in China.

This is an inconvenient truth, like the inconvenient truth that Mao killed more Chinese than the Japanese; that too must be glossed over. Mao was so they say, only 30 per cent wrong. I wonder what per cent wrong we should classify Hitler who killed less people, or Stalin? Deconstruct.

PoisonÑno doubt you all have forgotten all the poisoned toys, toothpaste, pet food etc.

Such items keep coming out. The list never stops. How many of you rush to buy food products made in China? Your choice. PropagandaÑdo I need to say anything about a country that avoids transparency like the plague, rejects any idea that the government should be accountable, and muzzles its press. The censorship extends beyond the borders of China. Where does China rank in freedom of the press by Reporters without Borders? Anyone for the ranking of 171? There are not many countries left that are lower than that. That is an awful low ranking in the violation of human rights and freedoms for a kingdom like the great Middle Kingdom.

It does not end there; I will give you fair warning on a topic that wonÕt win me too many friends. Beware of the Confucian Institutes that the PRC is trying to host around the world. It is ChinaÕs Legalist Tradition that is the driving force; that Legalist Tradition allows the Cabal to keep leadership. I can more in Q and A.

Deconstructing the gorilla. The USA has some fault of its own in creating the gorilla of this Middle Kingdom of the 3 PÕs. Nixon and Kissinger were ready to sacrifice Taiwan for expediency in the past. Thank God for some members of the US Congress. I just attended a symposium in Taiwan on the US-Japan Security Alliance and the Security of Taiwan. There in which Professor Arthur Waldron used now accessible transcripts to aptly point out how Nixon and Kissinger created a lot of the problems of today. In deconstructing the gorilla, the USA should look to Russia. Russia understands China much better than the West. The Western pundits can only think of cheaper goods. Russians have a better overall grasp. We have looked at Chinese occupied Tibet; Chinese occupied East Turkestan; Chinese occupied Inner Mongolia, but why is there not a Chinese occupied Mongolia? If one follows the pseudo logic of ChinaÕs justification for its land grab, Mongolia was just as much a part of the Manchu Qing kingdom. The only reason that Mongolia is not occupied is because of Russia; Russia knew the gorilla and it wanted a buffer between their state and China. Further, Russia does not have as many Òuseful idiotsÓ scholars or pundits like the US has.

On the Confucian Institutes for Q & A, I will give you some clues. Western thought has been strongly influenced by Platonic thought; however you wonÕt find Westerners opening Plato Institutes in other countries. I am not a Platonist; I do think that PlatoÕs Allegory of the Cave is spot-on about speaking of the human condition. I hold to the truth of Socrates, that the unexamined life is not worth living. But in looking at Platonism and the paradigms that lie behind it. I donÕt believe in a universe of Platonic dualism; I donÕt believe that the Philosopher should be King. I do recognize that Platonic thought has strongly influenced Western psyche, but I donÕt glorify Plato because of that.

There is a different motivation for the gorilla to glorify Confucius. Examine these 3 points. 1) In its history, China was never reformed from within with any lasting effect. Major dynastic changes came from without and not from within. 2) The Chinese Communist Party was not built on Confucianism.

3) Confucianism is not the driving force that makes Shanghai, Shanghai. Businessmen have no thought of Confucius when they rush to Shanghai the wild, wild, east. You canÕt have it both ways.

When US pundits try to push Taiwan into China? I have a final word for you. It is a word you Californians can understand. It will help you in deconstructing the gorilla as well as understanding the Òuseful idiot punditsÓ of China. That word is . . . Enron. I hope that none of you had your life savings and your retirement entrusted to Enron.

Enron, the smartest guys in the room, remember that? Remember how for six years the business pundits were falling all over themselves to point out how Enron should be imitated. Remember how Enron gave you Californians the shaft with energy blackouts? Enron happened in a culture that had some transparency and accountability; limited as it was. Can you imagine what is happening in that opaque culture on the other side of the Taiwan Strait? With this, I am going to give you a little homework; Bethany McLean. Who remembers who she is. Go home and put that name in Google; you will find out where I am going.

What I am giving you is the Bethany McLean report on the gorilla on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. One of the latest fads in economics is to praise the Chinese way; have an economy with the controls and suppression as practiced by those on the other side of the Taiwan Strait. Think of this: Chinese economics; what is the collateral damage that comes with it? WouldnÕt it be grand to have an economy filled with Enron companies. Think of my axioms on ChinaÕs peaceful rising, think of Enron, and think of Chinese economics.

In my book, Taiwan the Struggles of a Democracy, I began with the African proverb, Until the lions have historians, the tales of the hunt will always glorify the hunter. While Taiwan was under the one-party state of the KMT, its lions seldom had historians to write about them. Finally now, with its new won freedom and democracy, the lions have the ability to speak. Taiwan is the Crucial Keystone of Asia: Its Freedom, Identity and Democracy must be preserved. You know best the long time and long struggle to achieve that freedom and democracy. The useful idiots of the west unfortunately find it is easier to love the gorilla no matter whom it crushes. I hope I have shown you ways to deconstruct the gorilla and counter these pundits. Asia depends on Taiwan because it is both closest to China and farthest away from it. You know that the paradigm that drives your souls is not the paradigm of China.

Taiwan has a Hybrid Culture and that is its strength. You are the Diaspora, you know why you were driven from Taiwan and you know why you have preserved your Taiwan Minzu and not a Chonghua Minzu.

I am already well into my time in this presentation, but I am going to fire out a series of final statements that can be used to take us into the Q & A.

1) The history of the gorilla is neither your history nor your identity, even though many of you were forced to memorize the Chinese gorillaÕs history in school. 2) There are certain red flags you must even now be aware of. .Whenever you hear someone in Taiwan talk about the 1992 Consensus, you know the bull sh__ is coming. Whenever you hear someone begin to talk about ÒsplittingÓ the motherland, you know the bull sh__ is coming. There are many more of these flags. 3) Japan needs a stronger navy; unfortunately many there are losing their soul. I hope that Taiwan can see it is in TaiwanÕs benefit to have greater military agreement between those two nations. 4) If you talk to anyone or read anything that is pre-1996 Taiwan, you need to approach it with a lot of critical skepticism. Anything done by the Legislative Yuan pre 1992 has been done totally by a carpetbagger legislature. 5) TaiwanÕs Hybrid Culture and TaiwanÕs Hybrid Identity are crucial to preserving its democracy. You must both explore this and find a way to articulate it. TaiwanÕs history is not ChinaÕs history; ChinaÕs history is not TaiwanÕs. TaiwanÕs culture is not ChinaÕs culture; ChinaÕs culture is not TaiwanÕs. Constantly articulate that to the pundits. 6) In addition to Japan, India should be seen as one of the best allies of Taiwan. 7) Taiwan is an island nation; it has a population larger than 75 per cent of the nations in the UN. There are many Chinese influences in your Taiwan culture and your Taiwan Minzu, but they are like an inoculation where you take on some of the germ to build up resistance against it. 8) Ma Ying-joke is trying to Finlandize Taiwan in the worst sense of that word.

Go back with me now to the visuals with which I began the presentation.

1) the Austronesian elementÑit is crucial to see this in relation to your identity. 2) the visual sense of why you are an island nation belonging to the chain of islands and not the continent. 3) the history of the Spice Islands. 4) A map of China with all the occupied territories. 5) the shallowness of the Taiwan Strait, the real reason why Taiwan is a coveted geography by ChinaÕs navy. 6) How Taiwan is both the geographical keystone to preventing ChinaÕs hegemony, but also the cultural keystone to doing such. Long live the Independent Democratic Reality of Taiwan!