"According to an official account of the trip, Chen, who is also the vice chairman of the Police Association of China, was visiting to promote cross-strait cooperation between police agencies and explore possibilities for greater judicial collaboration.Whilst I am certain I do not like the sound of that one little bit, how many angles are there here? Off the top of my head I can think of at least three: counter-intel, women trafficking and persecution of political dissidents. How many more?
The NPA statement said an agreement was reached on six points, including an increase in cross-strait police exchanges, more communication on extradition and additional cooperation on security and anti-terrorism."
Update: J.Michael Cole affirms two of those conjectures:
"The most “terrifying” angle is “anti-terrorism,” because, as Joseph Wu told me when I interviewed him, China’s definition of “terrorism” can be very wide indeed and include Tibetan/Uighur/Taiwanese/Falun Gong groups advocating the many things Beijing finds unpalatable.... Another “angle,” and I’m sure the delegation did some of this, is intelligence collection during the trip. Another recruiting."Since the inception of my blogging and letter-writing campaign, I have argued against the use and expansion of government power from Taipei. Although it has been arguable that that government may take certain actions to prevent, or more likely delay the expansion of political power wielded by the government in Beijing, it was and remains the case that over the long term the government in Taipei represents a strategic liability: a source of concentrated political power through which the interests of CCP clients can be pursued and the people of Formosa can be re-oppressed. To think strategically about opposing the government in Beijing, it is necessary to elucidate ways of defying, opposing, circumventing and undermining the exercise of power by the government in Taipei too.
2nd Update: Turton has hold of the story.
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