Ma Ying-jeou returned to his old stomping grounds at Harvard Law School, where he had picked up his doctorate nearly two decades earlier, last week. But Ma, the second popularly elected mayor of Taipei since 1967, came back to Cambridge a figure of global importance, whose career is pivotal to stability in Sino-Taiwanese relations.

Ma, darling of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) Party, ousted populist Chen Shiu-Bian of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in elections last December, as Taipei's voters showed they were in no mood to keep pushing for total independence from the mainland's communist government.

The DPP and Chen, a tough administrator who shut down Taipei's arcades and implemented a curfew on the city's youth, have been unwavering in their opposition to the mainland government of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The DPP had seen Chen as their man to succeed current Taiwanese President Lee Teng-hui, of the KMT, but Ma has all but dissolved that dream.

Speaking with The Crimson in his suite at the Charles Hotel late last week, Ma suggested even Lee's position on the PRC was too forceful.

Lee recently mandated "state to state" relations between the PRC and what the communist regime sees as its "renegade province." Although Lee is considered more of a talker on the independence front--who would consider unification after certain democratic reforms--his stance nonetheless added KMT weight to the drive for independence.

As sheets of rain pelted the picture windows of his hotel room, Ma reflected on relations between his adopted homeland and the mainland, where he grew up, sketching out what he called "a special relationship."

As Ma put it simply: "We don't consider China a foreign country...We have to be realistic about this."

For Ma, the relationship between the People's Republic of China (the mainland) and the Republic of China (Taiwan) is one of "creative ambiguity," as the names suggest. For example, an airplane flight between Taipei and Beijing is neither domestic nor international, Ma said.

"There should be one China but two political institutions," Ma said.

Such a scenario is difficult, as even the U.S. refuses to recognize Taiwan's independence, wanting to preserve diplomatic stability with the mainland government.

Mister Mayor

Ma is a careful man, who earned the nickname "Mr. Clean" for his reputation as immune to corruption. Rambunctious prods at the PRC are certainly not in his repertoire, and as important as he is becoming in the intricate politics of would-be independence, Ma would much prefer to talk about his initiatives as mayor.

Indeed, those initiatives inspired Ma's visit to the U.S. With his popularity high, especially among women who kvell over his handsome features and image as a good husband, Ma is anxious to make Taipei "a world-class city."

Ma's plan for the city revolves around culture.

Already, Ma has established artistic trade routes between his city and Paris, Jerusalem, Versailles, Tel Aviv, Rome and Florence, shuttling artists and students to his city.

Now, Ma is seeking to make his city a cultural metropolis by establishing exchange programs with major U.S. cities. Fresh off of visits to Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Washington D.C., Ma came to Boston to meet with Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

Ma envisions an artists' "village" in Taipei, providing a creative hub for the city's spring arts festival. One place to draw artists from is Boston, with its Tanglewood music center.

Ma is also looking to expand student exchange programs. As it is, many students in Taipei come to the U.S. for graduate school, but Ma would like to set up formal programs in which host cities will help with students' living expenses and native cities with travel expenses.

Ma said the mayors he met with were receptive, especially fellow New York University graduate and New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.

"I invited him to visit Taiwan," Ma said. "He said he probably would after the [upcoming New York Senate] election."

The quotidian worries of a city mayor don't end at lofty plans for cultural supremacy: Ma also sees the city's traffic problems as an area ripe for improvement, not to mention crime and pollution.

Communists and Artists

But even Ma's push for a Taipei renaissance doesn't free Taipei from the region's political tensions.

Ma first insisted his exchange programs were "non-political," but then thought twice as he considered a vocalist contest he had arranged in Rome for rural Chinese vocalists. PRC residents entered the contest and were set to compete.

The mainland government intervened, however, forcing its contestants to withdraw.

Dealing with the communists' desire to control Taiwan raises the ire of the otherwise diplomatic mayor.

"It's just absurd," Ma said. "They're always doing that."

Even so, Ma urges Taiwan to "resist this kind of harassment," adding that reform will come as the Chinese watch Taiwan conduct free elections.

"The impact is indirect, but it's very real," Ma said.

Taiwan, commercially successful as a legitimate competitor to Silicon Valley, has not achieved equivalent political success globally; the U.S. and the United Nations deny its sovereignty.

But Ma, Harvard-educated and notoriously unnotorious, might still succeed in navigating the treacherous straits separating Taiwan and the mainland.

If his course is the right one, diplomacy, democracy, capitalism and culture will permeate the communist nation and stabilize the region. If he is wrong, Taiwan may yet replace his KMT approach with a more forceful approach to dealing with the communist giant--the implications of which could be drastic.