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Democratic Challenge in Taiwan
| Article
# : |
12768 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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| Issue
Date : |
3 / 1987 |
2,286 Words |
| Author
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Hungdah Chiu
Hungdah Chiu is a professor of law at the University of
Maryland Law School and has written, edited, and coauthored
many books in English and Chinese. He is president of the
American Association for Chinese Studies. |
For the first time in Chinese history, on December 6, 1986, worldwide attention was focused on a general election in the Republic of China - even though no one expected the ruling Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) to lose. This was because the December election was the first time a meaningful opposition party - the newly formed Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) - was tolerated (although technically the DPP remained illegal).
Nominally, Taiwan has two other legal opposition parties: the China Youth Party (CYP) and China Democratic Socialist Party (CDSP). However, since 1980 the popular vote each of these has received is less than 1 percent, and they have thus become politically insignificant. In previous elections, the Nationalist government has allowed candidates to run as independents, except for the candidates of the two legal opposition parties. Thus, the December 6 election was viewed as a major step toward democratization of the political process in Taiwan.
Despite its authoritarian nature, the rule of the KMT has provided political stability in Taiwan, and has therefore been essential in contributing to the rapid economic development and social progress of Taiwan since 1950. Per capita income jumped from less than $100 in 1950 to more than $3,500 in 1985. Moreover, during this period, the ratio of per capita income between the top 20 percent and bottom 20 percent of the population has been reduced from 15 to 1 in the early 1950s to about 4 to 1 in 1985. Thus, it terms of income distribution, Taiwan's society is one of the most egalitarian in the world. (The ratio of per capita income between the top and the bottom 20 percent of the population in the United States is about 9 to 1, and in Mexico it is 20 to 1.) The adult
... (1997 of 14256 Characters)
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