6 Chapter 1 The World's Tallest Building 7 independence.In the parlance of pollsters,the mainstream preference,one Taiwan's economic prosperity,too,rests on maintaining a cordial relation- shared by three-fourths of Taiwanese,is to "maintain the status quo."The ship with the PRC,an economic and military powerhouse just one hundred Chinese phrase used in surveys translates as "preserve the way things are miles away.Moreover,he argues,reducing tensions between the two sides now,and that captures well what most Taiwanese hope to do,recogniz- might induce China to lift its embargo on Taiwan's participation in inter- ing that "the way things are now"includes not foreclosing the possibility national institutions,a necessary step if Taiwan is to be fully incorporated of unification someday and continuing to fly the Republic of China flag into a rapidly integrating global economy. today.As U.S.Senator James Leach has said,Taiwan can have democracy or Ma's approach reflects his party's preference for cooperation with the independence,but not both.Increasingly,too,Taiwan's economic prosper- mainland.As inheritors of a tradition that stresses mainland recovery and ity rests on maintaining cooperative relations with China,which is its top Chinese nationalism (the party's official English name is the Chinese Na- target for trade and investment. tionalist Party),it is hard for today's KMT politicians to abandon unifica- This,then,is the central dilemma facing Taiwan:how to live both freely tion as a goal.At the same time,however,they well know that unification and at peace.The PRC insists that if Taiwan does not at least pay lip service has little appeal for Taiwanese voters-and the PRC's Communist system to unification,war is inevitable,but the vast majority of Taiwanese prefer to has been anathema to their party for decades.The way they square this avoid unification as long as they can.Navigating this narrow passage is the circle is by holding out the hope that the two sides might someday sit down central challenge facing Taiwan's leaders and voters.The high stakes and and negotiate to create a united,non-Communist Chinese nation attractive limited options help to explain why Taiwanese pursue politics with such enough to win over Taiwan. uncommon passion. While it refuses to rule out the possibility of unification in the future- Charles Kao,the founder and head of Commonwealth Publishing,one both for ideological and strategic reasons-the KMT is in no hurry to bring of Taiwan's most important news organizations,had that passion in mind it about.Ma himself has repeatedly said that it will not happen while he is when he observed,"If you don't read newspapers or watch TV,Taipei is the president,and he has set democratization of the mainland as a precondi- most beautiful place to live in the world.If you do read newspapers and tion for starting any kind of unification process.His party appears willing watch TV,it's the worst!"Politics is at once Taiwan's national sport and to prolong the status quo indefinitely.Needless to say,Ma's counterparts its national shame.Taiwanese love to criticize their boisterous politicians, in Beijing find his preferences far from ideal-they would like to see move- and most seem genuinely embarrassed when their lawmakers pummel each ment toward unification now,and they scoff at his advice regarding politi- other or hurl their lunches across hearing rooms.Still,those same Taiwan- cal reform-but they find him infinitely preferable to the alternative. ese are the audience that sustains twenty-four-hour news talk shows and That alternative would be a president representing the Democratic nonstop partisan combat. Progressive Party (DPP),the political party that grew out of Taiwan's pro- Part of the reason politics is so exciting in Taiwan is that democracy is democracy movement.A Democratic Progressive held the presidency from still relatively new there,and it is very much a spectator sport in a country 2000 to 2008,and those years confirmed Beijing's darkest fears about what small enough that anyone who wants one can have a ringside seat.Still, a DPP government would be like.President Chen Shui-bian's policies aimed what makes politics so relentless in Taiwan is the need to manage an ex- to maximize the psychological distance between Taiwan and the mainland. ceptionally difficult problem:balancing Taiwan citizens'desire to maintain, While Chen was careful to maintain plausible deniability on claims that he even enrich,the benefits they enjoy as a self-governing democracy with the was trying to engineer permanent independence for Taiwan,the PRC was need to pacify,or at least keep at bay,the PRC's demand for unification. convinced that was his aim-as were many Taiwanese and Americans. Differences of opinion about precisely what Taiwan should be striving for Given Beijing's determination to "pay any price"to stop Taiwan from and how to achieve it are at the heart of the island's political life. becoming independent,it is hard to imagine how Chen could have pulled Taiwan's twenty-first-century presidents exemplify the predominant off such a feat,especially in a democratic nation in which his political op- viewpoints on these questions.The president elected in 2008,Ma Ying- ponents controlled the legislature and the vast majority of voters opposed jeou,believes Taiwan's best hope for maintaining the status quo-de facto taking such a risk.But whether or not he spent his presidency scheming,as separation,albeit short of full independence-is to cultivate friendly ties Beijing put it,to "split China,"there is no question he devoted himself to with the mainland.In his view,Taiwan must persuade the PRC that al- making unification more difficult. lowing Taiwanese to run their own affairs for the foreseeable future will For eight years,direct communication between the two sides stalled be- not undermine Beijing's long-term goals or violate its short-term interests. cause Chen refused to meet Beijing's preconditions for talks.First among