Good Morning China!

Front Paget

The remarkable visit of Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan to mainland China continues.

It is worth noting that the visit has been given blanket and extensive coverage by the official Chinese media. Key parts of the visit have been broadcast live on national TV. Lien Chan was even able - truly unique! - to deliver a speech in Beijing that was broadcast live.

Yesterday he was in the historic city of Xian in the interior of China, as reported by the Taiwan newspaper I have linked to.

He was received by by a cheering crowd of more than 10 000 people that also waved KMT flags.

I very much doubt any such flags have been allowed in China since 1949, and there is no way they would have been seen there now without a high-level decision on the issue.

It seems as if the two great political forces in China during the post-imperial last century are finally coming to terms with each other. Then it remains to be seen which effects this will have over time on the policies of each of them.

One thing is for certain - it will not pass without fairly major consequences.