After its ham-fisted handling of the disastrous Typhoon Morakot last month, the Ma Ying-jeou administration in Taiwan showed its deft side when it successfully finessed a challenge by the opposition to its cross-straits policy by allowing a visit by the Dalai Lama but contained its political fallout.
The Tibetan spiritual leader, who lives in exile in India, had been invited by the out-of-power Democratic Progressive Party ostensibly to comfort the victims of the typhoon, which killed more than 600 people. While Ma knew that a visit by the Dalai Lama would anger Beijing, he had no choice but to allow it to go ahead, given the large number of Buddhists in Taiwan.
Read Full Article »