This article is the second in the series “On East Asia”. The first article can be found here.
Credit: Upper photo: A Brighter Summer Day (1991); Bottom photo: Taiwan president’s Facebook album.
By Ruofei Lu. Foreign Affairs.
Giant banners fly on skyscrapers. Crowds chant in the streets, “Today Hong Kong, Tomorrow Taiwan.” As Taiwanese people demand an internal awakening against China’s aggression and call for external support from the international community, this article responds to their rallying cry.
What makes Taiwan, as titled, the frontier of democracy? Below, we will delve into an introduction to modern Taiwan’s democratic system, its democratic culture, international relations, and its importance. And, of course, we will explore this series’ broader subject: East Asia’s relationship with Confucianism.
After losing the Chinese Civil War to the Communists in 1949, the Nationalist Party of China (KMT) retreated to Taiwan. Under Chiang Kai-shek’s dictatorship, the KMT implemented the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the Communist Rebellion. These provisional laws granted the government unrestricted power to suppress and control the population. As a result, the Taiwanese were subjected to curfews, and freedoms of speech, press, and assembly were abolished. The one-party system of KMT reigned for almost 25 years under the iron fist of Chiang in a period marked as the White Terror. The government’s brutal crackdown on any opposition, like the Formosa Magazine incident in 1979, created political paranoia and alienated Taiwan or “The Republic of China” from the international stage.
After the famous Ping-Pong Diplomacy between mainland China and the US, the Taiwanese government compromised and left the United Nations. The US, under Jimmy Carter’s presidency, formally recognized the international status of “The People’s Republic of China,” but not Taiwan (The Republic of China.) The isolation of Taiwan on the global political stage fostered student movements for democratization. The famous Wild Lily student movement notably forced the government to compromise and abolish their “provisional” legislation while reforming the parliament to provide more political freedom. The Wild Lily student movement in 1990, only one year after the Tiananmen Massacre on June 4, 1989, showcased historical patterns of East Asia in the late twentieth century. Small decisions made by individuals often either derailed or guided the country’s democratization process.
After the June Democratic Struggle in 1987, which successfully ended the far-right military dictatorship of Chun Doo-hwan, Taiwan emerged as a new democratic force in East Asia. These left-wing student movements in East Asia renounced American imperialism and the traditional political structure of East Asia, creating a new front of progressive forces.
According to the American think tank Polity’s data series, Taiwan became a “full democracy” in 2004. Taiwan became the first Asian country to legalize gay marriage in 2019. Additionally, in the recent 2024 election, women made up 41.6% of all parliamentarians, the highest in Asia, and even higher than in France, Germany, and the US. The progressivism in Taiwan is astonishing, given how late it started to democratize. It is also refreshing and impressive to see how it broke away from Confucian traditions and established further gender equality. This is something that Korea, a country that, to some extent, has a similar history with colonialism and Chinese influences, fails to do. Korea is still filled with extreme sexism and misogyny, such as the recent Nth Room case scandal of cybersex trafficking.
Taiwan’s democratic culture is also far-reaching. A new generation of youth has increased their political engagement, notably with the 2014 Sunflower Movement. Students occupied the parliament to stand against a bill that would increase China’s influence in Taiwan’s economy, halting the progress of distinguishing Taiwan’s national identity from China.
Taiwanese culture nowadays is highly marked by its online presence on YouTube and other social media platforms, often featuring political satire and government criticism. The recent Taipei International Comedy Festival showed the world that Taiwan is the only Chinese-speaking country with true freedom of speech, where people are allowed to criticize their government. But more importantly, it creates a civil society that allows public debates and fosters exchanges of ideas.
However, despite Taiwan’s bright future, the world must be prepared for a potential storm looming in the South China Sea, driven by a lack of international support and increasing internal hostility toward China.
As of 2024, Taiwan only has formal diplomatic relations with eleven out of 193 countries in the UN. Only one of them is located in the Global North, and it is the Vatican. Taiwan’s relations with the US are unstable since the US regime changes occur without consistent rhetoric on their ties with Taiwan. This is evident especially when Trump wants to raise tariffs and become less reliant on the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, its semiconductor manufacturing industry. Mainly owned by the central government, the Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited produces more than half of the world’s semiconductors. Though the Taiwan industry is crucial for internaitonal trade, Trump’s administration ambiguous foreign policy can be seen as a green light for China to “reunite their territories.”
After the previously mentioned Sunflower Movement, a new generation of Taiwanese people no longer identify as Chinese but simply as Taiwanese. After more than 70 years of isolation from the PRC, Taiwan has developed a unique culture, cuisine, and habitus despite having the same roots as mainland China. Within this political context, the pro-autonomy People’s Progressive Party witnessed immense electoral success, winning the last three presidencies against the KMT, who wants to continue “business as usual” relations with China. However, in the 2024 election, a third party, the Taiwan People’s Party, gained popularity, advocating for a relatively moderate stance toward the CCP, hoping to reduce the chances of a conflict. The mainland Chinese government easily manipulated this divide in public opinion, leading the pro-business and pro-China KMT to win the parliamentary majority in 2024.
Despite being extremely successful in its democratization process through student movements and its breakaway from Confucian traditions, Taiwan’s internal division on national identity and international isolation continues today. In order to see a thriving democracy in East Asia in the future, the West must provide more substantial international support and recognition to the frontier of progressivism and democracy in East Asia.
The series “On East Asia” will continue soon.
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