POLITICAL CONDITIONS of Taiwan

Until 1986, Taiwan’s political system was effectively controlled by one party, the Kuomintang (KMT), the chairman of which was also Taiwan’s president. As the ruling party, the KMT was able to fill appointed positions with its members and maintain political control of the island.

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 1987, President Chiang Ching-kuo 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.

Since ending martial law, Taiwan has taken dramatic steps to improve respect for human rights and create a democratic political system. Almost all restrictions on the press have ended, restrictions on personal freedoms have been relaxed, and the prohibition against organizing new political parties has been lifted. Lee Teng-hui succeeded Chiang Ching-kuo as president when Chiang died on January 13, 1988. The Civic Organizations Law passed in 1989 allowed for the formation of new political parties, thereby legalizing the DPP, and its support and influence increased. Lee was elected by the National Assembly to a 6-year term in 1990, marking the final time a president was elected by the National Assembly. In the 1992 Legislative Yuan elections, the DPP won 51 seats in the 161-seat body. While this was only half the number of KMT seats, it made the DPP’s voice an important factor in legislative decisions. Winning the Taipei mayor’s position in December 1994, significantly enhanced the DPP’s image. The DPP continued its strong showing in the 1995 LY race, winning 45 of the 157 seats to the KMT’s 81.

In 1996, Lee Teng-hui was elected president and Lien Chan vice president in the first direct election by Taiwan’s voters. In November 1997 local elections, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) won 12 of the 23 county magistrate and city mayor contests to the Kuomintang (KMT)’s 8, outpolling the KMT for the first time in a major election. In the 2001 LY elections, the DPP won a plurality of seats for the first time. In March 2000, DPP 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.

In a hotly contested election on March 20, 2004, President Chen Shui-bian was re-elected by 50.1% of the popular vote to a second term. The election was marred by a shooting incident the day before the election during which President Chen and his running mate Vice President Annette Lu were slightly wounded. While the opposition contested the results, it was the first time that the DPP has won an outright majority in an island-wide election.

The March election also included a “defensive referendum.” Historically, the issue of referenda has been closely tied to the question of Taiwan independence, and thus has been a sensitive issue in cross Strait relations. There were two referenda before the voters on March 20. The first asked in light of the P.R.C. missile threat whether Taiwan should purchase anti-missile systems. The second asked whether Taiwan should adopt a “peace framework” for addressing cross Strait differences with the P.R.C. However both referenda failed to obtain support from over 50% of registered voters, as required to be valid.

President Chen Shui-bian has called for major constitutional reforms by 2006 aimed at further reducing layers of government, and making other structural changes aimed at improving governance. The People’s Republic of China has accused Chen of using the constitution issue to move Taiwan towards independence. He expressed opposition, however, in his May 20, 2004 inaugural address to using constitutional reform to alter the constitution’s definition of Taiwan sovereignty.

The Legislative Yuan (LY) passed a set of constitutional amendments on August 23, 2004 that will, once confirmed by the National Assembly, halve the number of LY seats and create single-member districts. The revisions also will eliminate the role of the National Assembly and permit the public to confirm or reject future revisions passed by the LY.

In the December 2004 legislative election, the ruling DPP won a plurality with 89 of the 225 seats, gaining 2 seats more than it did in 2001. The opposition KMT won 79 seats, which is 11 more than it did in 2001. The KMT’s coalition partner, the People First Party (PFP), won only 34, which is 12 fewer than the seats it won in 2001. The Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) won 12 seats. The New Party won one seat. The newly established Non-Partisan Union (NSU), made up of maverick legislators with no particular ideological inclination, won 6 seats. Four individuals without any party affiliation were elected.

Political Parties
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.

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 Chinese New Party (CNP) members who supported former KMT Taiwan Provincial Governor James Soong’s presidential bid. The CNP failed to retain the minimum number of seats required to be represented in the LY. The PFP and KMT have formed the “Pan-Blue” Alliance to oppose the DPP government. Former President Lee Teng-hui formed the Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) in 2001. The TSU advocates changing Taiwan’s official name and completely replacing the 1947 constitution. The TSU is informally allied with the DPP as part of the ruling “Pan-Green” alliance.

Taiwan and the Mainland
Despite the differences between Taiwan and the P.R.C., contact between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait has grown significantly over the past decade. Taiwan has continued to relax restrictions on unofficial contacts with the P.R.C., and cross-Strait interaction has mushroomed. In January 2001, Taiwan formally allowed the “three mini-links” (direct trade, travel, and postal links) from Quemoy and Matsu Islands to Fujian Province. Taiwan opened direct cross-strait trade in February 2002. Cross-Strait trade has grown rapidly over the past 10 years. China is Taiwan’s largest trading partner, and Taiwan is China’s fifth largest. Estimates of Taiwan investment on the mainland range from $70-$100 billion, making Taiwan and Hong Kong the two largest investors. This indirect trade runs heavily in Taiwan’s favor, providing another outlet for the island’s economy. Beijing has expressed a mixed view of these developments. P.R.C. leaders are pleased at the development of economic ties and exchanges, which they believe helps their cause of reunification. However, the increase in contacts, combined with domestic political liberalization on Taiwan, also has resulted in more open discussion in Taiwan of the future of Taiwan, including the option of independence, to which Beijing is strongly opposed.

The trend in cross-Strait economic interaction is one of steady growth with, so far, only temporary setbacks due to political factors such as Lee Teng-hui’s private visit to the United States in 1995 and his 1999 characterization of relations with the mainland as “state-to-state.” Taiwan business representatives are enthusiastic about commercial opportunities in the mainland and have been leading proponents in calls to revise the previous administration’s “no haste, be patient” policy regarding Taiwan mainland investment to prevent over-dependence on the P.R.C. In August 2001, President Chen accepted the recommendation of the economic advisory committee to set aside the “no haste, be patient” policy. In February 2003, Taiwan and the P.R.C. agreed to allow Taiwan carriers to fly via Hong Kong or Macao to bring Taiwan residents on the Mainland home for Chinese New Years. Progress has been particularly slow on resolving differences over establishing direct transportation links.

The development of semiofficial cross-Strait relations has been halting. Prior to April 1993, when talks were held in Singapore between the heads of two private intermediary organizations–Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the P.R.C.’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait (ARATS)–there had been some lower-level exchanges between the two sides of the Strait. The April 1993 SEF-ARATS talks primarily addressed technical issues relating to cross-Strait interactions. Lower-level talks continued on a fairly regular basis until they were suspended by Beijing in 1995 after President Lee’s U.S. visit. Unofficial exchanges resumed in 1997 through informal meetings between personnel of the two sides’ unofficial representative organizations. Direct SEF-ARATS contacts resumed in April 1998, and the SEF Chairman visited the mainland in October 1998. A planned visit by ARATS Chairman Wang Daohan to Taiwan in the fall, however, was postponed following statements made by then-President Lee Teng-hui that relations between the P.R.C. and Taiwan should be conducted as “state-to-state” or at least as “special state-to-state relations.”

Since his May 20, 2000 inauguration, President Chen has called for resuming the cross-Strait dialogue without any preconditions. President Chen has stated that such talks should be conducted in the spirit of the 1992 Hong Kong talks, a reference to a meeting the two sides held to discuss how to handle political barriers to cross-Strait interaction. The P.R.C. has responded that the Chen administration must acknowledge that the two sides reached a consensus that there is only “one China” before any dialogue can be restarted. In his May 20, 2004 inaugural address, President Chen recognized the P.R.C.’s insistence on “one China” but stopped short of endorsing the concept. He called for a new “Cross-Strait Framework for Peace and Stability” and enhanced political, economic, and social exchanges between the two sides.

The United States has welcomed and encouraged the cross-Strait dialogue as a process which contributes to a reduction of tension and to an environment conducive to the eventual peaceful resolution of the outstanding differences between the two sides. The United States believes that differences between Taipei and Beijing should be resolved by the people on both sides of the Strait themselves. The United States has consistently stated that its abiding interest is that the process be peaceful.