Whole 'nother thread on this: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1795084/posts
As you'll see, my take is 180 degrees away. Chen is playing brinkmanship, trying to provoke a war to save his sorry ass.
Most Chinese & Taiwanese on the island do not seem to favor formal independence from China. And they certainly do not want the war that will inevitably come from Chen's poker game. Chen is a social democrat, not really a "conservative." He's allabout "diversity," "multiculturalism," and the whole nine yards of socialism.
There, the three threads on this topic should be interlinked, now.