Taiwan

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Country in east Asia, officially the Republic of China, occupying the island of Taiwan between the East China Sea and the South China Sea, separated from the coast of China by the Taiwan Strait.

Government
Taiwan is a multiparty democracy with a presidential executive. The president is directly elected by popular vote for a four-year term and is head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces, and promulgates laws. There is a single-chamber legislature, the Legislative Yuan, which comprises 225 members, with 209 directly elected for a three-year term on the basis of proportional representation (168 in multi-member and 41 in national constituencies), eight elected by overseas Chinese and eight elected by the aboriginal populations. The president works with a cabinet, the Executive Yuan, headed by a prime minister who is selected by the president without the need for approval by the Legislative Yuan. However, the Legislative Yuan can pass laws without the need for the president's approval. A Judicial Yuans interprets the constitution.

History
Taiwan, then known as Formosa (‘the beautiful’), was settled by China from the 15th century, briefly occupied by the Dutch during the mid-17th century, and annexed by the Chinese Manchu dynasty in 1683. It was ceded to Japan under the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki after the 1895 Sino-Japanese war and not regained by China until the Japanese surrender in August 1945.

Chinese nationalist government
In December 1949 Taiwan became the refuge for the Chinese nationalist government forces of Chiang Kai-shek which were compelled to evacuate the mainland after their defeat by the communist troops of Mao Zedong. Chiang and his nationalist followers dominated the island and maintained an army of 600,000 in the hope of reconquering the mainland, over which they still claimed sovereignty. They continued to be recognized by the USA as the legitimate government of China, and occupied China's United Nations and Security Council seats until October 1971, when they were expelled and replaced by the People's Republic.

Economic growth
Taiwan was protected by US naval forces during the Korean War 1950–53 and signed a mutual defence treaty with the USA in 1954. Benefiting from such security, the country enjoyed a period of rapid economic growth during the 1950s and 1960s, emerging as an export-oriented, newly industrialized country. Political power during these years was concentrated in the hands of the Kuomintang or KMT (Guomindang) and the armed forces led by President Chiang Kai-shek, with martial law imposed and opposition activity outlawed.

External changes
During the 1970s the Taiwanese government was forced to adjust to rapid external changes as the USA adopted a new policy of détente towards Communist China. In January 1979 this culminated in the full normalization of Sino-US relations, the severing of Taiwanese-US diplomatic contacts, and the annulment of the USA's 1954 security pact. Other Western nations followed suit in ending diplomatic relations with Taiwan during the 1970s and early 1980s.

Democratization and ‘Taiwanization’
These developments, coupled with generational change within the KMT, prompted a slow review of Taiwanese policies, both domestic and external. Chiang Kai-shek died in April 1975 and his son Chiang Ching-kuo (1910–1988) became party chair and, from 1978, state president. Under his stewardship, a programme of gradual democratization and ‘Taiwanization’ was adopted. Elections were held for ‘vacated seats’, arising from the death of the incumbent, within the national assembly (an overarching parliament which elected the state president and amended the constitution) and Legislative Yuan (the legislature for day-to-day affairs). Native Taiwanese were more rapidly inducted into the KMT. In the December 1986 elections a formal opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), led by Chiang Peng-chien, was tolerated and captured 22% of the vote to the KMT's 69%. In July 1987 martial law was lifted and replaced with a national security law under which demonstrations and the formation of opposition parties were legalized, provided they forswore communism, and press restrictions were lifted.

Accelerating reform
President Chiang was succeeded on his death by Lee Teng-hui, the Taiwanese-born vice-president from 1984. The new president accelerated the pace of reform. Many ‘old guard’ figures were retired 1988–89 and a plan for phasing out by 1992, through voluntary retirement, up to 200 mainland constituencies and replacing them with Taiwanese deputies was approved. In the December 1989 Legislative Yuan elections the KMT's vote share fell to 59% and from September 1990 the ‘ancient guard’ Chinese-born KMT members became a minority within Taiwan's parliament.

Relations with China normalized
In May 1991 President Lee Teng-hui officially declared an end to the 42 years of ‘civil war’ (‘Period of Communist Rebellion’) between the KMT government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People's Republic of China. For the first time, the existence of a Communist Party-led government in Beijing was formally recognized and in April 1991 the first official Taiwanese delegation visited Beijing.

Calls for independence rejected
In October 1991 the opposition party, the DPP, introduced a new clause into its charter advocating Taiwanese independence and calling for a plebiscite on the issue, despite the fact that calling for independence remained a seditious offence.

At the end of 1991 the 566 last remaining ‘life members’, who represented constituencies on Chinese mainland, formally resigned from their legislative posts. In December 1991 a new national assembly was elected and became the first to be controlled by Taiwan-elected members. The KMT won a landslide victory, capturing 71% of the vote and securing the required majority to push through fundamental reform of the constitution. The DPP was damaged by its technically illegal pro-independence stance; the Taiwanese remained concerned that a declaration of independence might prompt invasion by mainland China or an uprising by internal factional divisions.

Falling support for KMT in first democratic elections
In December 1992, in the country's first fully democratic elections, the ruling KMT lost considerable support to the DPP but still, with a 53% vote share, secured a clear majority of seats in the Legislative Yuan. In February 1993 the island-born Lien Chan was appointed prime minister following the resignation of Hau Pei-tsun, who led a conservative ‘mainlander’ faction within the KMT.

In the December 1995 elections, the ruling KMT retained its majority in the Legislative Yuan by a slim margin: the DPP winning 33% of the vote and the New Party, a breakaway faction of the KMT led by diehard Chinese mainlanders, 13%.

In March 1996 Lee Teng-hui won Taiwan's first-ever democratic presidential elections, after the constitution had been amended to take away the National Assembly's power to elect the president. He won 54% of the vote against 21% for Peng Ming-min, leader of the pro-independence DPP. China had attempted to intimidate voters by holding nearby large-scale military exercises. In 1997 Vincent Siew became prime minister.

Foreign relations
In 1992 Taiwan severed relations with South Korea, after the latter signed a diplomatic pact with China. This left South Africa as the only major country with full diplomatic links with Taiwan.

In 1993, Taiwan applied to become a member of the United Nations (UN), but the application was blocked by China.

Taiwan signed a cooperation pact with China in 1993. However, in December 1998 President Lee Teng-hui snubbed China's call for early talks by announcing that reunion with the mainland was impossible until Beijing adopted democracy.

Electoral success for the KMT
The ruling KMT began to champion a distinct Taiwanese identity separate from mainland China. This made it more popular, and in December 1998 it won the mayorship of Taipei with 46% of the vote, and won 123 of the 225 seats in the newly-expanded Legislative Yuan. The DPP share of the vote fell to 30%, and the pro-unification New Party, attracted 7% of the vote.

DPP wins the presidency
The KMT's electoral success was short-lived and in March 2000 its 55-year monopoly of power ended when the DPP's Chen Shui-bian won the presidential election. In the run-up to the elections, China had threatened Taiwan with invasion if it continued to put off discussions about reunification and it would take Taiwan by force if it moved towards official independence.

Chen's election posed a threat to relations with the Chinese government. However, in a gesture of conciliation to China and the KMT, which had a majority in the legislature. he chose as his prime minister the current KMT defence minister, Tang Fei, and pushed through legislation voting to lift a 50-year ban on direct trade, investment, and postal links with China. In his inaugural address as president, Chen sought to reassure China, saying that he would not issue a formal declaration of independence for the island. However, the resignation in October 2000 of Tang Fei as prime minister, officially attributed to poor health, raised questions over the stability of the government. Chang Chun-Hsiung, a DPP veteran, became the new prime minister.

In March 2001, the traditionalist Lien Chan, who supported reunification with China, replaced Lee Teng-hui as KMT chairman.

Legislature elections
The pro-independence DPP finished in first position in the December 2001 elections to the Legislative Yuan, winning 87 of the 225 seats. The KMT won only 68 seats, but with its People First Party and New Party allies opposed to the DPP, still held an overall majority in the legislature, allowing it to stall legislation. Yu Shyi-kun became prime minister in January 2002.

In January 2002, Taiwan became a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Re-election of Chen
Chen was narrowly re-elected president in March 2004, by a margin of less than 30,000 out of 12.9 million votes. The KMT's candidate, Lien Chan, disputed the result and KMT supporters held a week-long protest in Taipei. They alleged both electoral irregularities and that a shooting of Chen in the stomach while campaigning in Tainan city a few days before polling had been staged to win sympathy votes.

In May 2004, in what became known as the May 17 Declaration, China warned Chen that there would be military consequences if he did not halt policies toward Taiwan independence. However, in December 2004, Chen announced that state-owned enterprises and foreign offices bearing the name ‘China’, such as China Airlines and the China Steel Corporation would be renamed to bear the name ‘Taiwan’.

In Legislative Yuan elections in December 2004, the centre-left DPP coalition (with the Taiwan Solidarity Union) again fell short of winning a majority, and Chen resigned as chairman of the DPP.

National Assembly abolished
In May 2005, a new National Assembly was elected to reduce the number of parliamentary seats and implement reforms to the constitution, including its own abolition and transfer of powers to change the constitution to the Legislative Yuan and all voters in referenda.

DPP damaged by corruption scandals
Chen's public approval rating slumped during 2006, reaching as low as 6% in one poll in May 2006, as DPP officials and Chen's family members became embroiled in allegations of corruption. In May, 2006, his son-in-law, Chao Chien-ming, was charged with insider stock trading and embezzlement. In June 2006, Chen declared that he was handing control of governmental matters to Premier Su Tseng-chang. However, in September 2006, the political activist Shih Ming-te launched a ‘Million Voices against Corruption, President Chen Must Go’ campaign, which collected more than 1 million signatures demanding Chen's resignation.

In November 2006, Chen's wife and three high ranking officials in the Presidential Office were officially charged with corruption of US$460,000 of government funds. There was a growing risk that Chen would be impeached and forced out of office.

The China question
Still the dominant political issue in Taiwan is its relationship with communist China. Businesses that have opened factories and branches on the mainland seek an opening of direct transportation links, including flights. In 2006, President Chen expressed support for a managed opening of links, but some in the DPP fear that this risks leading to tighter economic and political integration with China and that Taiwan should formally declare its independence. President Chen considered this unnecessary as Taiwan was already ‘an independent, sovereign country’. The KMT still believes in the ‘One China’ policy, which states that there is only one China controlled by two governments and that Taiwan is a part of China. They want investment restrictions to be lifted as soon as possible, and direct transportation links opened.

White, blue, and red became known as the pan-Slavic colours, influencing many other Eastern European flags. White, blue, and red are also the colours of the arms of the Duchy of Moscow. Effective date: 11 December 1993. >>