Description: Research, Teaching, Open Access, Formosa
Because Taiwan Republic only appears in the western press in relation to geostrategery, “Chinese communist tensions,” and computer microchips, most English language analyses of Taiwan have been filtered through American and Chinese imperialist lenses. One of the greatest peaceful democratic revolutions engineered by the democratically elected president of Taiwan Dr. Tsai (LSE, Ph.D.) is to move from Taiwan Republic’s founding father President Lee Teng-hui’s formulation “RoC [in] Taiwan 中華民囯在台灣” to “RoC [as]
The 1996 Chinese communist missile crisis occurred on the eve of Taiwan’s first democratic presidential election – President Lee led Taiwan from the era of China KMT foreign dictatorship to Taiwanese democracy. Dr. Lee had to balance between the new, fragile democratic era and his role as the inheritor of CCK’s China KMT dictatorial party-state while facing Chinese communist belligerence and muddle-headed US policy.
In contrast, the 2022 Chinese communist missile crisis – though the Chinese military is stronger – has occurred in a very different environment. Since 1996 Taiwan’s democracy has peacefully transferred power between political parties twice – DPP to China KMT; China KMT back to DPP. More significant: Dr. Tsai is the first democratically elected president wherein during her second term her level of support has remained above fifty percent.