The observation is true, though a bit sarcastic. The cultural revolution is alive here 30 years after its demise on the mainland. Those who are too young to witness the tragedy, or too curious about the 10-year madness, needn't go further than Taiwan to see the redux of the tumultuous period.

Go to downtown Taipei to see the confrontation between crowds of opposing ideologies, almost a re-run of the violent struggle between Mao Zedong's Red Guards and the reactionary "black five categories."

The standoff at the imposing Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is in fact Taiwan's version of Mao's cultural revolution. The ruling party, led by President Chen Shui-bian, is determined to wipe out any vestiges of China, including its culture, history, and memory. Chiang Kai-shek is, therefore, the inevitable target.

President Chen said Thursday that Taiwan cannot tolerate the "deification" of a dictator. That's the reason given why the Memorial Hall must be renamed and Chiang's name removed from the gate. Chen's attempt at desecration is resisted by the opposition party and Chiang loyalists, some of whom even vowed to defend Chiang's name with their lives.

The standoff is but a tip of the iceberg in Taiwan's cultural revolution, which has been in progress since Chen won the 2000 presidential election. The ultimate goal, of course, is to wipe out Chinese culture in favor of Taiwan's indigenous culture. In the revolution, as in the one that took place in China 30 years ago, there is a high price to pay.

In China, the "10-year catastrophe" was a total waste, pushing the country toward the brink of collapse. In Taiwan, Chen's eight years in power have been a disaster, due to his obsession with demagoguery and confrontational politics. But China has learned a lesson from its past mistakes, and embarked on a new beginning in 1978 to make up for the lost decade. It has emerged from the ruins of the cultural war to become an economic power. By contrast, Taiwan is being whipped into a frenzy with no sign of letting up. One cannot help wondering when Taiwan's politicians will wake up to see that their chickens have come home to roost.