I really wish he’d show a little more tact.

In a televised speech that squelched months of speculation he might soon seek to improve relations with Beijing, President Chen Shui-bian said Sunday that Taiwan needed to increase its weapons purchases and warned against greater economic ties to the mainland.

Chen had said fairly little in the weeks since his Democratic Progressive Party, which seeks greater political independence from the mainland, fared badly in municipal elections on Dec. 3. The Nationalist Party, which favors closer relations with Beijing, did much better in those elections and has been riding a surge in popularity since its then-chairman, Lien Chan, visited the mainland in late spring shortly before his retirement last summer.

But Chen made clear Sunday that those setbacks would not fundamentally alter his policies. In his New Year’s speech, he used a series of politically charged phrases that appeal to independence advocates in Taiwan, but will probably offend Beijing, while calling for legislative approval of his plan to buy more weapons from the United States.

Chen was especially emphatic in warning of the risks posed by the rapid modernization of the People’s Liberation Army, especially its heavy investments in missiles that can reach Taiwan. “In the face of such imminent and obvious threat, Taiwan must not rest its faith on chance or harbor any illusions,” he said in the president’s annual New Year’s Day address.

Beijing offered no immediate reaction. Wang Daohan, its chief negotiator on Taiwan issues for years, died on Dec. 24 at 90 and political analysts have suggested that his death may make the mainland less likely to soon change policies toward what it considers a “renegade province.”

He kind of reminds me of Bush, acting as though his razor-thin victory in November gave him the mandate from hell (not to mention “presidential infallbility,” soon to be the new buzzword of the Bush haters, and deservedly so).

According to the article, Chen’s cronies see the Green’s recent election defeat as the result of internal politics and not Chen’s (anti-)China policy. I’m too new to the swamp that is Taiwanese politics to make any judgement.