But that is exactly what President Chen Shui-bian’s government and the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) have been doing in building Taiwan’s statehood: pledging to craft a new constitution and rectifying Taiwan’s official title from the Republic of China to Republic of Taiwan but doing nothing in this regard.

The draft of the new constitution is yet to be unveiled and the name-changing task is limited to only a few state-owned enterprises. Such moves don’t elevate Taiwan’s status but serve Beijing’s goal of downgrading the island.

They have been unable to drop the name Republic of China, Taiwan’s last political link with China, because their separatist agenda is opposed by not just the majority people at home but also by the majority of nations. Of the world’s 196 countries, 163 have formally committed to Beijing’s “one China” principle: there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China. To drop that name means war.

This is also exactly the reason behind the recent surprise retreat from the Taiwan Independence Movement by former President Lee Teng-hui, widely called the “godfather of the Taiwan Independence Movement.” Calling Taiwan independence a “false issue,” the former president stressed he never advocated Taiwan independence and refused to be called the “godfather” of it.

Despite their rhetoric otherwise, the Chen-DPP leadership has long been engaged in the game of “breaking twigs without touching the trunk” for the obvious purpose of misleading independence supporters at home and avoiding offending Taiwan’s mentor and protector the U.S.

So it abolished the 1991 National Unification Council and its guidelines last spring, dropped the name of the late President Chiang Kai-shek from Taiwan’s main international airport last September and last week replaced “China” with “Taiwan” from the names of three state enterprises in an assertion of local identity despite criticism from the United States. None helps to reduce Taiwan’s Chinese-ness.

It has unfailingly whipped up this identity game whenever there is an election looming. Although playing this divisive game has helped the DPP to persuade some people to identify themselves as Taiwanese, not Chinese as in the past, and enabled the DPP to become the biggest party in the parliament, it still does not have a majority edge, even including seats of its ally the TSU. Its influence in local governments has been dwindling due to overplaying this trick.

The game will be played like never before because 2007 is the last year for Chen to do anything to fulfill his pledge to give the island a new identity when he leaves office in May 2008.

It is also a critical year for the scandal-plagued president to clear the name of himself, his wife, in-laws and close aides from corruption charges, as well as to make necessary arrangements for a trouble-free retirement.

Furthermore, this year is the last opportunity for the DPP to first consolidate its core supporters and then try to lure voters at the center, or face certain rejection by majority voters in the December election of legislators and the March 2008 presidential poll. But time is running out, Chen or the DPP can’t have their cake and eat it too.

Most people now realize that Taiwan independence is a losing cause. When threatened with definite retaliation from the mainland, the cause loses its appeal. Endless political upheavals, economic stagnation and social division haunt the people. Taiwan-based foreign business groups, such as the American Chamber of Commerce and the European Chamber of Commerce, have gone out of their way to oppose it.

Relations with the mainland are getting worse. Taiwan becomes a flashpoint and a troublemaker in the eyes of the world. War is a constant worry for all.

The name-changing game also has caused increasing mistrust of vital allies: the U.S., Japan and Singapore.

Taiwan thus is more divided and isolated, not better identified.

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