These past two weeks, the eyes of the world have remained gripped by calamitous stories surrounding the Sichuan Earthquake.
There is another eathquake happening in that part of the world. It is a "political" one. And this political earthquake is closely tied into the rescue, recovery, and relief efforts.
Major significant political "seismic" shifts are being felt in East Asia, as state visits first from Russian newly-installed President Medvedev visited Beijing, followed by South Korean president Lee Myun Bak changed the p0litical atmosphere in the region, and portends a shift in international relations. The new "strategic partnership" that is being pr0moted between China and South Korea will do much to tamp down the political tensions in the Korean peninsula and focus on the task of a "win-win" situation to bolster the economic integration in the Korean peninsula with the economic juggernaut of China, Inc. .
To add to this, the major political earthquake felt across the Taiwan straits has been the visit by KMT chairman Wu Poh-hsiung's visit to Beijing. This "earthquake" diplomacy has added to the thawing of relations and racheting down of tensions across the Taiwan Straits.
Following Hu Jintao's visit to Japan after Beijing's "warm springs" initiative to reach out to Japan and the Japanese peoples, there are signals coming out from Beijing that Japan and the Japanese peoples should weigh on friendly terms given that Japanese relief and assistance in post-Sichuan Earthquake recovery and reconstruction is now actively solicited by China.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/24/content_8245261.htm
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/28/content_8272418.htm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121203083998728525.html?mod=hpp_asia_whats_news
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/28/content_8272634.htm
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121200030475126813.html?mod=hpp_asia_whats_news
