8 Chapter I The World's Tallest Building these was the PRC requirement that Chen accept the principle that Taiwan and the mainland are part of"one China."That alone was a deal killer for pealed to the so-called "Light Greens"-Taiwanese who recognize the risks Chen,above all because the PRC'sone China"principle also states that the of independence,but are wary of too much contact with the mainland- Beijing goverment is the sole legal authority over all of China.To Chen- and even to some "Light Blues"-centrist Taiwanese who lean toward the and many others-Beijing's precondition looked a lot like surrender.The KMT,but not strongly. PRCrelaxed its stance when President Ma came into office,and talks resumed It may seem odd that Taiwan politics is so passionate when-with the ex- without Taiwan ever explicitly accepting Beijing's One China Principle. ception of the Deep Greens-most people agree that,one way or another,the With cross-Strait talks suspended,Chen's domestic policies aimed to best option is to preserve the status quo.Paradoxically,though,it is precisely reinforce Taiwan people's sense of themselves as separate and different because the goal is clear,but still very hard to attain,that the fight over how from mainland Chinese.His government revised textbooks to emphasize best to pursue it has become so intense.For example,President Ma's approach Taiwan's history and geography.It rebranded numerous state-owned cor. undoubtedly protects Taiwan in the short run.It minimizes the chances of porations,replacing"China"in their names with "Taiwan,"and it tried, conflict with the PRC,it maximizes mutually beneficial cooperation between with little success,to stem the flow of Taiwanese business to the mainland. the two sides,and it does not rule out any possibility in the long term.But Some of Taiwan's most famous landmarks got makeovers.The Chiang Kai- there is risk in this approach.Interdependence constrains the PRC,but it con- shek Memorial-a massive,sepulchral white marble pyramid that houses a strains Taiwan,too,and many Taiwanese worry that being the small player in thirty-three-foot bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek upstairs and an exhibit this game puts Taiwan at particular risk.Today's cooperative engagement can of his effects(including his armored limousine)below-was renamed the become tomorrow's coercive leverage,and China is vastly larger and insists it "National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall. will sacrifice its people's short-term interests to achieve its strategic goals. The episode degenerated into farce.The Chen administration down- Another force driving Taiwan's politics is a debate over the country's graded the site's landmark status so it could seize jurisdiction over it from international status.In the Deep Greens'view,Taiwan leaders'refusal to Taipei City,at which point the Ministry of Education hastily unveiled new challenge the PRC too overtly inhibits Taiwan from becoming a "normal placards and closed off Chiang's statue.Meanwhile,the KMT-led Taipei country."To survive as an autonomous political entity,Taiwan has ac- City government and legislature scrambled to undo the changes.Chen's cepted a compromise.It cannot call itself the Republic of Taiwan,but it move was not only calculated to impress his political base,it was also part can and does assert the statehood of the Republic of China,a state once of a larger effort to encourage Taiwanese to relinquish the pro-China,pro- universally recognized,now reduced in territory but still robust within its unification mentality Chiang and his party had inculcated and embrace a own jurisdiction.That compromise satisfies everyone,and it satisfies no more DPP-friendly,Taiwanese-only identity. one.It allows the KMT to hold its head up before its founding fathers,and The most enthusiastic audience for Chen's policies were people known it allows the PRC to claim Taiwan still calls itself "Chinese."It allows the as"Deep Greens"-folks with a fondness for Taiwan independence and a DPP to ferment the wine of an independent Taiwan within the bottle of the bred-in-the-bone antipathy to the KMT.In their view,even Chen Shui-bian ROC.But none of the three sees itself drawing closer to its ultimate goal. was disappointingly moderate.The Deep Greens do not accept that formal Taipei 101 is modern,sleek,and impressive;it celebrates Taiwan's eco- independence is unattainable.If the PRC collapses,economically or politi- nomic success,including its high-tech ascendancy and extraordinary growth. cally,they argue,Taiwan should be able to wriggle free-if it's prepared. But the real reason it so quickly became not just an icon,but the icon of con- Another scenario they imagine is that Taiwan's timid public might grow temporary Taiwan,is that unlike every other symbol the island can muster, bolder and unite behind a gesture that would force the world to recognize Taipei 101 bears no political coloration.The tourist bureau favorites-the the Taiwan people's will for independence.In that case,they believe,other Chiang Kai-shek Memorial,the Longshan (Dragon Mountain)Temple,the nations-mainly the United States-would step in to help the newly inde. presidential office building,even the Grand Hotel-are freighted with history pendent Taiwan survive the PRC's punishment. and politics,too controversial to represent a nation still struggling for consen- Even the most fervent independence supporters acknowledge these sce- sus about its own past and future.Only Taipei 101 stands above the political narios are unlikely in the near term,but they are not ready to give up hope fray,evoking economics,technology,global business-the only languages that things may change in the future.Chen's determination to put as much Taiwanese seem able to speak without arguing. distance between Taiwan and China as possible reflected their logic even if It is in these realms that Taiwan has succeeded in becoming not an object he was never able to go as far as they would have liked.His policies also ap- but a subject;not a means to an end-the renaissance of Chinese civiliza- tion-but an end in itself.Politics is much more difficult.That is not to say