Chinese Handshake

Breaking news indeed ! Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-jeou met in Singapore on Saturday November 7, 2015. They shook hands for one minute and twenty seconds. That was a very long handshake. Would you do it with a friend and see how it feels, to shake hands for that long ? Though Xi and Ma's handshake was only a symbolic handshake for peace, it was a very important handshake. As I said in the past, and now again, that shaking hands is always better than shooting bullets and dropping bombs. 

This meeting of Xi and Ma, the top leaders from both sides of the strait, was the first since 1949. During the historic meeting, the two sides exchanged views on promoting the peaceful development of cross-strait relations. Zhang Zhijun, the head of China's Taiwan affairs, said the meeting was a milestone event achieved through the constant efforts from people across the strait.

My thoughts and comments:

China (People's Republic of China) and Taiwan (Republic of China) are made of the same Chinese people with the same language, culture, ethnicity, race, heritage, history and commonality. They are separate only because of a civil war in the 1940s and the political difference in their forms of government. They are sort of like being separated, but not legally divorced. There is no divorce, but there is no reconciliation either. So Taiwan currently is not an independent country (although it operates just like one), but it is not part of Chinese sovereignty either (although China continues to claim the sovereignty and treat Taiwan as a renegade province). 

Not that I think China and Taiwan will be unified soon, but I can say with confidence that those Taiwanese who think they are not Chinese, and want Taiwan to become fully independent are out of their mind. Taiwanese are Chinese, but Chinese are not necessarily Taiwanese. This simple fact would not be easy for the independence-seeking Taiwanese to refute. Besides, China is many times stronger than Taiwan economically, politically and militarily. Taiwan would be really stupid and self-defeating to fight with China. 

Who wants to bet on my belief that Taiwan cannot and will not become a fully independent country? Let's face it: there is only one China. Nobody can change the One-China Policy, not even the UN. The only 2 options left is either for Taiwan to remain status quo, or become a highly autonomous region of China, based on the 1 country 2 systems model, sort of like Hong Kong and Macao. It would be very interesting to keep watching what will happen in the next 30 years or so.

Lee Kuan Yew

Lee Kuan Yew, the founding father of Singapore, has passed away at 91. Rest In Peace, Mr. Lee !!! 

Economic Freedom

In the news, the U.S. ranks 12 in a report of Economic Freedom by the Heritage Foundation. These are the top five with the most Economic Freedom: (1) Hong Kong, (2) Singapore, (3) New Zealand, (4) Australia, (5) Switzerland.

Canada is (6), which is not bad. The falling of Oil Price and the value of Loonie is good news to some, but bad news to others. There is no perfect country on Earth. On the whole, Canada is still a great country to live in. What do you think ?

US Dollar and World Trade

It's only a matter of time that the US Dollar will lose its status of being the international trading currency. It's already happening. Super rich Americans have either transferred a large chunk of their money and wealth out of USA, or they themselves have moved to another country. Singapore is a favorite choice. The center of world economy has already gone to Asia. In just a few more years, China will overtake USA and become the largest economy in the world.