Picturesque islet off Taiwan emerges as laboratory for island's ambitious force reduction plan

Concrete pilings designed to prevent an invasion no longer dot this tiny Taiwanese islet's shoreline. A formidable marine garrison also has vanished, replaced by laid-back coast guardsmen and marine biologists. Don't be mistaken, though — the government is not suddenly renouncing its long-standing claim to Dongsha, a picturesque islet in the South China Sea. China, from which Taiwan split in a civil war in 1949, claims it, too. A well maintained monument set amid Dongsha's low cut tropical shrubbery spells out the claim in neat Chinese characters, and a small tree planted by former President Chen Shui-bian calls attention to it. But an ambitious government plan to reduce the strength of Taiwan's armed forces from the 450,000 it numbered in the late 1990s to as few as 200,000 by 2012 is taking its toll on military staffing... [read full story]