Democratic Reforms in Taiwan: Issues for Congress

Abstract

Taiwan, which its government formally calls the Republic of China (ROC), is a success story for U.S. interests in the promotion of universal freedoms and democracy. Taiwan's people and their leaders transformed politics from rule imposed from the outside with authoritarian abuses to the relatively peaceful achievement of self-government, human rights, and democracy. The purpose of this CRS report is to succinctly discuss Taiwan's transformation and current concerns, paying particular attention to the role of Congress and implications and options for U.S. policy. Taiwan's people did not fully enjoy democratic self-government until the first direct presidential election in 1996. The opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), formed in 1986, and its candidate Chen Shui-bian won the presidential election in 2000, ending Taiwan's 55 years of rule by the Kuomintang (KMT), or Nationalist Party of China. Taiwan enjoyed a second democratic transfer of power in 2008, when the KMT's Ma Ying-jeou won the election for president. After two democratic transfers of power, Taiwan has an unfinished story in promoting rule of law and maintaining a strong multi-party system, with implications for U.S. security, economic, and political interests. U.S. policy has played important roles in Taiwan's transition to democracy, by decreasing Taiwan's sense of insecurity through continued arms sales and other contacts after the end of the mutual defense treaty with and diplomatic recognition of the ROC in 1979, by continuing business ties that have provided for prosperity, and by pressing the KMT to end authoritarian abuses of power in favor of freedoms for all Taiwan's people, including the majority Taiwanese. Some say Taiwan could be a model for the People's Republic of China (PRC). Promoting an environment conducive to rule of law and business, President Ma has led his government to fight corruption in Taiwan, a complaint of some U.S. firms.

Open PDF

Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
May 26, 2010
Accession Number
ADA522215

Entities

People

  • Shirley Kan

Organizations

  • Library of Congress

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Cyber
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Ground and Sea Platforms
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Civil Rights
  • Commerce
  • Congress
  • Correctional Facilities
  • Department Of State
  • Governments
  • Human Rights
  • International Organizations
  • International Relations
  • Law
  • National Politics
  • National Security
  • New York
  • Personnel Management
  • Political Systems
  • Treaties
  • United States

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Asian Economic Studies
  • Political Violence and Terrorism Studies.