The IHT has reprinted an article from Paul Mooney talking about the CCP's responses to criticism and how the preservation of the party remains paramount, even for the new guard of President Hu and Premier Wen. The killer quote: As one Western diplomat said, the party is not in the business of putting itself out of business.

And in other cheery news, it seems the frenzy over a potential Chinese attack on Taiwan is going up another notch. China is in the middle of a major propoganda offensive to convince Taiwan of dire consequences should they makes moves China deems moving too far towards independence. Taiwan is not taking the bait - yet. But if China continues to warn of war it may have the contrary effect of drumming up even more support for Taiwan's independence movement. This is one hell of a high stakes political and diplomatic game at the moment.