The World: Tense Triangle

TAIWANESE legend has it that whenever the muddy Chuo Shui River runs clear, great events follow. Recently, the Chuo Shui ran clear for the first time since 1949, when Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek's shattered armies retreated to Taiwan from the mainland. The event apparently portended this time was Peking's venture in Ping Pong diplomacy and Washington's warm response. One thing is clear besides the water: any real rapprochement between the U.S. and the mainland regime hinges on Taiwan, a verdant island of 14 million people. As Peking's Premier Chou En-lai recently put it, "The...

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