Show 'em that you care

Sometimes in every relationship you need to take a step back and show your partner that you still think they’re something special. At least that’s what our dog eared copy of Dr. Phil’s latest relationship manual told us. Washington and Beijing had some "relationship reaffirmation" on the agenda this weekend. For the Obama administration, that meant showing Beijing how much it values their partnership. And what better way to do that then to appoint Utah Governor Jon Huntsman as Washington’s new ambassador to Beijing? Huntsman is a fluent Mandarin speaker thanks to a stint as a Mormon missionary to Taiwan. He’s also a former US trade representative and ambassador to Singapore. So far no response from Beijing on what it thinks of the appointment, probably because it was too busy showing how much it valued its budding relationship Taipei. Beijing approved five more ports for direct shipping to Taiwan, offered to purchase more products from Taiwanese companies and said it would help shipping companies set up operations on the mainland. But not all Taipei residents have reacted favorably to the warming cross straits ties: A major protest organized by the island’s opposition Democratic Progressive Party took to the streets on Sunday to voice their displeasure. Oh well…you can’t win them all.