President Bush strongly warned Taiwan Tuesday to drop plans for an upcoming referendum that would call on China to withdraw missiles aimed at the island. Some view the vote as a move toward independence. China has threatened military action if the referendum is passed. Bush’s warning came after a 40-minute meeting with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in Washington. A Washington Post editorial today criticized Bush’s approach. It reads “Yesterday President Bush essentially placed the United States on the side of the dictators who promise war, rather than the democrats whose threat is a ballot box… he demonstrated again how malleable is his commitment to the defense of freedom as a guiding principle of U.S. policy.”