Since beginning reports on mainland China three years ago, we have gradually moved away from simply discussing political or economic issues, and towards examining the interactive relationship between the Chinese on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Two examples of this were our reports on how mainland Chinese are learning from Taiwan businessmen, and on cross-strait marriages.

This month's cover story--"Opening a 'Window' on Ideology"--analyzes primary school textbooks in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. We want to understand how the political systems in these three societies sharing a common cultural and linguistic heritage have produced very different ideologies and modes of thinking.

There is a particularly interesting twist to the trends affecting textbooks in Taiwan and Hong Kong, where new political climates are taking shape. In Taiwan, which has been experiencing internally driven democratization, the trend in textbook editing is to emphasize "nativism," which means things Taiwanese. In Hong Kong, on the other hand, the 1997 deadline which will transform it from a British colony into a "Special Administrative Region" of the People's Republic of China is fast approaching. Textbooks are being pushed by external pressures in the direction of greater awareness of China and of Chinese nationalism. In our story "The Rise and Fall of 'China'" we examine the face of Taiwan and Hong Kong textbooks of the future. It is a subject we need to think about.

For many, however, history is not just a textbook subject. In the story "Home to an Uncertain Welcome" we report on some old veterans--men who were brought to Taiwan in 1950 with the retreating Nationalist armies and who were cut off from their places of birth for nearly four decades--who are once again walking the road home. Today, the home town is still there, but often the family is gone. And even if there are children and grandchildren, they are people whom these old veterans have never even seen, and there is little sense of family. The wounds of such an extended separation can only be healed by rebuilding relationships bit by bit.

Permanent relocation back to the mainland was legalized in 1993. Yet only about 2,600 old veterans have gone through the process of formally returning, far less than initially expected. Many old soldiers would prefer to spend time on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, and are not willing to settle down in the PRC. Our reporters visited Zhejiang Province's Zhoushan City--the place with the largest number of "old fogeys from Taiwan"--to explore the experiences and emotions of these old vets.

The most moving and regrettable aspect to this story is that after 40 years, all that is left of their marriages is recrimination and helplessness. It is hard to say who was in the right and who in the wrong all these years. Given the irresistible circumstances that twisted these lives, all many can do today is to swallow their sorrow and get on with their day-to-day lives as best as they can. The tragedy of their era is brought out in the stories of three couples, stories which accompany "Home to an Uncertain Welcome."

In Taiwan, the implementation of universal health insurance is having far-reaching effects on the lives of citizens, and the program is off to a controversial start. Some feel that there is great merit to the fact that many people (some children, the seriously ill) previously marginalized by insurance programs are now brought within the system. Others complain that the payment system is unreasonable, that medical resources are unfairly distributed, and that the referral system is complicated and subject to abuses. Some have taken to the streets in protest.

Yet, even as the politicians point fingers, most people have overlooked a fundamental fact: Universal health insurance is merely a financing or payment scheme which is aimed at reducing losses and waste. But the availability of medical help depends, as it always has, on the health care network composed of hospitals and providers, and this is where many of the problems of the current system arise. Just take for example the shortage of high grade facilities on the offshore islands (despite the fact that those people pay the same insurance rates as anyone else), the shortage of beds for the chronically ill, the opposition to the referral system, and the preference many have for going to the largest and best-equipped hospitals.

Senior reporter Laura Li argues that we should transcend the current wrangling and instead ask: Is the existing health network, given its distribution and the quality and quantity of health care providers, capable of handling the load of universal health insurance? What level of medical care can the network deliver to citizens in Taiwan?

Since Ms Li completed her piece, the National Health Bureau has announced some new measures to eliminate some of the complexity and inconvenience in the new system, such as reducing the number of categories for which hospitals must collect fees themselves from four to two, and allowing citizens over 70 to hold both "A" and "B" type insurance cards. We have inserted the latest information into this issue, but it is easy to see that more changes are in the offing in response to complaints by users. We will carry additional reports on universal health care in the future.

It was originally planned that a complete review of the program would be undertaken after one year. The timing of the review has been moved forward by half a year. How can the holes in the health care network be filled? Can irrational measures be completely eradicated? These are serious challenges for the government, elected representatives, and citizens alike.