Taiwan – A Maturing Chinese Democracy
Taiwan – A Maturing Chinese Democracy

Summary/Abstract: This article is focused on the process of democratisation in Taiwan. It reviews the transition of the authoritarian Kuomintang regime, and the specific role of Mr. Lee Teng-hui, former KMT leader and Taiwanese president, as well as the rising importance of the democratic political opposition. The new phenomenon of Taiwanese nationalism is also examined as an important force in local domestic policy. This study puts the case of Taiwan in the context of the debates started by Fareed Zakaria on the relation between democracy and liberalism. I argue that Taiwan’s democratic transition successfully avoided the negative scenario of “illiberal democracy”, and even casts doubt upon Zakaria’s priority of liberalism over democracy in this debate.

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