the anti-secession memo

on the first tuesday i taught, i was asked by a student what i thought about the taiwan-china issue. skillfully dodging the issue, i told the class that i was not supposed to talk about politics during class. he asked once more during class, and i gave the same answer. he then approached me after. "so what do you think about taiwan?" "well, i guess i feel the same way most americans do." he was not satisfied. i think he wanted me to actually say it. so i did. "i think that taiwan is okay the way it is right now." he started to go on to the history of the issue, and began to try to convince me. i did not have time, as i had to go to class.

two weeks later, today, after class, he approached me again. he gave me two, in his view, correct maps of china, one in chinese and one in english. it was then i noticed that he was wearing a communist pin. i then realized that this smart kid was most likely a party member. he also gave me a dense (at least to me) document which he told me was the anti-secession doctrine. it was written chinese, but he assured me that he would provide me with an english translation of it next week.

he asked me to read it and "bring [his] message to the west."

so i am.