Seldom do Taiwan's two big political parties find anything to agree on. But they are at present united in condemning recent American pronouncements on Taiwan. So when George Bush met his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, in Sydney on September 6th, the Taiwanese were especially concerned at what he might say.rnAt issue is a referendum planned to coincide with presidential elections in Taiwan in March next year. It would seek support for a doomed attempt to join the United Nations as "Taiwan", rather than "the Republic of China", under which name it lost its seat to China in 1971. China-and, it seems, America-regard the referendum as the thin end of a wedge. The fat end would be a Taiwanese declaration of independence from China.
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