Who's afraid of Taiwan?

When it comes to China, is India willing to strike but afraid to wound? For all the angry talk about China’s assertiveness and its dubious dealings with an assortment of difficult neighbours, Indian politicians seem to be wary of upsetting China by being nice to Taiwan. Representatives of Taiwan’s business interests in India complain that no minister will meet them even when they just want to talk business, on the grounds that India has no political relations with Taiwan. Interestingly, the one Indian politician who was brave enough to meet Taiwanese officials was West Bengal’s communist chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee who was surprised to hear that Taiwan’s trade with China was close to $80 billion, while with India it was just about $4 billion. Mr Bhattacharjee wants more Taiwanese investment in Bengal!