Sir- While I hope that China will reduce tensions in the Taiwan Straits after the earthquake ("Taiwan's disaster from below", September 25th) the political faultlines remain.  China's state controlled newspaper may now be calling Taiwanese their" flesh and blood" relatives, but days previous they were threatening "catastrophe" for the island if its democratically elected president, Lee, Ten-hui, didn't back off his "state-to-state" formulation.

The vast majority of Taiwanese support Mr. Lee's statement and resent the fact that Taiwan's request for UN assistance had to be approved by China.  It is a disgrace that the international community continues to accept China's claim over Taiwan.  When will the world realize that Taiwan and China are two separate, independent countries?  It is quite sad that politics are being played out over the heads of the victims of this devastating earthquake.

Wen-yen Chen
Formosan Association for Public Affairs
Washington, DC