I should be in Taiwan right now, searching for the injured in the rubble of the Sungshan hotel. I should be repaying their kindness with more than words, but I cannot. Perhaps this disaster is, as disasters often are in Asian culture, a portent of political upheaval. Taiwan is a strange place to claim kinship with once you've left, but let me try. The uncomfortable state of official non-recognition doesn't always give Americans a clear picture of my adopted homeland.
China is a one-party totalitarian state.
Taiwan is a democracy. You know, government elected for the people by the people, the sort of thing you read about in college civics classes. Still, the Taiwanese people are free to gather peacefully, worship freely, live where they choose and say what they please. Their constitution is a lot like ours, only without the guns. Taiwan, looking to America for support, is becoming increasingly skeptical that help will come when the chips are down.