CHINA SYNDROME: Media magnate Tsai Eng-meng, a man Forbes magazine says is worth $8 billion, has pro-China views that make him a lightning rod for criticism among many Taiwanese.

ROUGH AND READY: Since purchasing Taiwan's China Times Group in 2008, the rough-hewn Tsai has burst like a meteor onto Taiwan's political scene, leveraging his China-derived fortune to promote a political union with mainland China.

TO BE OR NOT TO BE: The controversy over Tsai and his media holdings goes to the heart of the dominant Taiwan political issue: Whether the island should keep a separate political identity from the mainland.