CCTV Hotel Myth

Like James Fallows, I have also wondered why the torched Mandarin Oriental Beijing hotel is still there, not torn down, not being repaired, just standing there being ugly. Here is an email from a Chinese friend:

As for why the building still has not been repaired or reconstructed, I think some of it is because the investigation of the responsible parties in this incident and the corresponding punishment have not been carried out thoroughly as far
as the Chinese people are concerned, given the high human cost and financial loss of the tax payers in this tragedy, but mostly I think is because there is a struggle within CCTV, State Administration of Work Safety, Ministry of Security, Ministry of Supervision and CPC's Publicity Department on whether to repair the building or to tear it down and reconstruct.

Aside from the cost of reconstruction, the decision is made difficult because about 3 hours after the fire started, even before it was completely distinguished, CCTV announced that "the main structure of the building was unharmed". However, a few days after the fire, architects such as Hu Chaohui, who participated in the early stage of
the building's design, and Civil Engineering Professor Yan Peiyu from Tsinghua University, among others, questioned CCTV's statement and said the main structure would have been severely damaged.

I'm not an expert in architecture, and details of the investigation into the damage are, as always, strictly off-limits to the public, but I doubt CCTV would risk using the old structure - they've been under enough heat already (no pun intended); images of their own crumbling building is the last thing they wish to show. This is why in a number of occasions, officials have denied reparation is under way, leaving
room for the decision of a complete rebuilding, e.g. in March, some billboards shielded the building, many suspected that it was to cover the reparation work; but on April 22, Spokesman Huang Yi from State Administration of Work Safety denied this, and he shifted from CCTV's initial claim by saying whether the main structure could be used and how to repair depended on experts' further inspection.

So I reason that the CCTV Tower will be rebuild from scratch, (they might be secretly calling in designs right now), but the construction would have to wait until our government feel confident that we will be out of the current economic crisis. This is really the very topic priority of our government right now, and despite appearances and pandering talks, Zhongnanhai is deeply troubled, even horrified at the possibility of losing all legitimacy of their dictatorship if the crisis continues and they lose on the economic ground.