A lot happening, but I'm heading off for a few days

There's a lot happening at the mo', here in Taiwan, in the world, in the life of Xu Xu. Taiwan is hosting a high level official from mainland China for important talks, for the first time since the end of the Chinese civil war sixty years ago. This is a fantastic development and a (not "an")historic event. Unfortunately the pro independence Democratic Progressive Party is opposed to the talks and is behind most of the protests being organised. The DPP's view is that China is the communist enemy and should not be engaged in dialogue. My personal view is that Taiwan should be recognised as an independent country, and when I first came to Taiwan I supported the pro independence DPP. I now have very little faith in them, their former president, Chen Shui Bian is a corrupt crook, a thief and embezzler, many of their members of parliament are prone to violent outbursts and extremely stupid statements, as are many of the partys' supporters. There are a great many thugs among their members and supporters. I believe daialoge with the Chinese can only be helpful to the current situation. The Chinese representative is under heavy police guard, to protect him from irrational DPP protestors. It's very sad for me, a supporter of Taiwan independence, to see this.

There is an election in the United States of America tomorrow, the result of which will have ramifications around the globe. There is also an upcoming election in my home country of New Zealand, which the rest of the world probably couldn't give a damn about.

As for Xu Xu, he has perhaps spent more than enough time in the megopolis of Taipei. His Chinese language studies have finished, he went to an evangelical mass conversion and a buddhist retreat in the space of a couple of days, and seems to have started referring to himself in this blog in the third person. It's still another couple of weeks before I head to the isolation of the Australian orchard for another season of fruit and flies, and later in feburary a world of backpackers who will come to struggle with the same. I'm escaping the city tomorrow morning, heading for the east coast backwater of Taitung for a few days. I'll be away from the internet and away from as much Taiwan and world news as I can manage until about the tenth.