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Serving
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TAIWAN
History
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Modern
History
In March
2000, Democratic Progressive Party candidate Chen Shui-bian became the
first opposition party candidate to win the presidency. His victory
resulted in the first ever transition of the presidential office from one
political party to another, validating Taiwan's democratic political system.
This change
in the political process is the result of the liberalizing trend that began
in the 1980s under President Chiang Ching-kuo. In 1987, he lifted the emergency
decree, which had been in place since 1948 and which had granted virtually
unlimited powers to the president for use in the anti-Communist campaign.
This decree provided the basis for nearly four decades of martial law under
which individuals and groups expressing dissenting views were dealt with
harshly. Expressing views contrary to the authorities' claim to represent
all of China or supporting independent legal status for Taiwan was treated
as sedition. Lee Teng-hui, a native Taiwanese, succeeded Chiang Ching-kuo
as president when Chiang died on January 13, 1988. Lee was elected by the
National Assembly to a year term in 1990, marking the final time a president
was elected by the National Assembly. In 1996, Lee Teng-hui was elected
president and Lien Chan vice president in the first direct election by
Taiwan's voters.
Since
ending martial law, Taiwan has taken dramatic steps to improve respect
for human rights and create a democratic political system. Most restrictions
on the press have ended, restrictions on personal freedoms have been relaxed,
and the prohibition against organizing new political parties has been lifted.
After
1986, the KMT's hold on power was challenged by the emergence of competing
political parties. Before 1986, candidates opposing the KMT ran in
elections as independents or "nonpartisans." Before the 1986 island
wide elections many "nonpartisans" grouped together to create Taiwan's
first new political party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Despite the official ban on forming new political parties, Taiwan authorities
did not prohibit the DPP from operating, and in the 1986 Island wide elections
DPP and independent candidates captured more than 20% of the vote.
In 1972, then Premier Chiang Ching-kuo began a concentrated effort to bring
Taiwanese into more senior position in the central administration and the
KMT. Upon his accession to the presidency in January 1988, Lee Teng-hui
continued this process.
The DPP
membership is made up largely of native Taiwanese. Its platform includes
outspoken positions on some of the most sensitive issues in Taiwan politics.
For example, the DPP maintains that Taiwan is an entity separate from mainland
China, in contrast to the KMT position that Taiwan and the mainland, though
currently divided, are both part of "one China." In sharp contrast to the
tenets of both KMT and P.R.C. policy, a number of ranking DPP officials
openly advocate independence for Taiwan. The recent downplaying of
Taiwan independence by the DPP as a party, however, led to the formation
by hard line advocates of a new political party called the Taiwan Independence
Party in December 1996.
The Chinese
New Party (CNP), was formed in August 1993, by a group made up largely
of second generation mainland KMT members who were unhappy both with corruption
in the KMT and with what they saw as the "Taiwanization" of KMT ideology
and leadership. The CNP emphasizes "clean government" and the original
KMT focus on reunification with the mainland. CNP influence remains modest
and seems on the wane; it won 21 of the 164 LY seats in the 1995 elections
but only 11 of 225 seats in 1998.
A new
opposition party was formed in the wake of the March 2000 presidential
election by the runner up, a KMT maverick candidate. The People's First
Party is composed primarily of former KMT and CNP members who supported
former KMT Taiwan Provincial Governor James Soong's presidential bid.
The PFP currently has 17 members in the LY.
Early
History
Migration
to Taiwan from mainland China began in A.D. 500; early immigrants came
across the Taiwan Straits from the Fujian province in China. Portuguese
sailors landed in 1517, stopping long enough to name the island Ilha Formosa
(Beautiful Island). Dutch traders claimed the island as a base for
their trade in 1624 and administered it until 1661. In 1664, loyalists
from the Ming Dynasty fled to Taiwan to escape the Manchu invasion, and
in 1683 it came under Manchurian control. When Taiwan became a Chinese
province three years later, migration increased to the point where the
Chinese dominated the aboriginal population. The Dutch were overthrown
by Ming Dynasty patriot and hero Prince Koxinga in 1661 and in 1684 Taiwan
became a region of the Fujian province and in 1887 a distinct province
of China. The French then occupied the Keelung port region and the
Pescadores Islands for a short period in 1884 but as part of the spoils
of the Sino-Japanese war, Taiwan and the Pescadores were surrendered to
Japan in 1895. A revolution founded the Republic of China (ROC) under
Sun Yat-sen’s Kuomintang (KMT) party. However, a civil war was waged
in China between the KMT forces (led by Chiang Kai-shek after the death
of Sun in 1925) and the Communist forces of Mao Tse-tung. The KMT
was defeated, and the refuges fled to Taiwan. The provisional government
they established claimed to be the only legitimate government over both
the mainland and Taiwan. This claim is still in effect today.
The Japanese ruled Taiwan until the end of WWII, leaving behind a shattered
economy.
The start
of modernizing Taiwan began with the fall of China's Ching Dynasty in 1911
and the subsequent founding of the Republic of China by Dr Sun Yat-sen
in 1912. Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taipei long with his Kuomintang
government in 1949 and defended political restrictions on the basis that
they were necessary during this period of Communist rebellion. He
died in 1975, his dream of recovering the mainland unfulfilled. His
Three No’s Policy was no contact, no compromise and no negotiation with
Beijing. Taiwan continues to be part of greater China, with elements
from each laying claim to the other. The only certain aspect of Taiwan's
geopolitical status in the immediate future is that it will remain unresolved.
Many countries
supported Taiwan as the legitimate government until 1971, when the People’s
Republic of China was admitted to the United Nations in place of the Republic
of China. The United States opened relations with the mainland government
in 1979. The United States retains unofficial relations with Taiwan
through a nongovernmental agency, the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT).
A peaceful solution to the Chinese situation is still being sought.
Debate continues over Taiwan’s retaining its claim to mainland China or
becoming a separate, independent country.
After
his death in 1975, Chiang Kai-shek was succeeded by his son Chiang Ching-luo.
Extensive modernization efforts have created a growing and prosperous economy
in Taiwan. Martial law was lifted in 1987, and political opposition
was legalized in 1989, opening the way for multiparty democratic elections.
Relations
with the United States and other countries are good, and extensive trading
continues.
Modernization
has come swiftly to Taiwan, making it one of the wealthiest countries in
East Asia. Fast food restaurants, Western style clothing, and modern appliances
are evident. This is attributed in part to the long-term stability
of the government and the strong feelings of solidarity and nationalism.
The Taiwanese are generally quietly and reserved, yet friendly and courteous
to strangers.
Links
to More Information
History
Channel
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Sources:
The
Library of Congress Country Studies |
