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Ensuring Peace and Prosperity in Taiwan
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14531 |
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Section : |
CURRENT ISSUES
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3 / 1988 |
1,348 Words |
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Martin L. Lasater
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The January 13 passing of President Chiang Ching-kuo of the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan was an important turning point in the modern history of Asia. His death not only ends the Chiang era in Chinese politics (his father, Chiang Kai-Shek, brought the Nationalist government to Taiwan following its defeat by the Chinese communists in 1949), it also ushers in a period of uncertainty for the 19.5 million inhabitants of Taiwan.
President Chiang was a unique statesmen. He combined virtually unlimited power in Taiwanese politics with political acumen and personal courage. Facing him were enormous challenges: How to bring economic prosperity to an island largely devoid of natural resources and with a population density higher than mainland China's; how to ensure his country's continued survival in the face of diplomatic isolation and persistent threats from Beijing; how to maintain his government's legitimacy in view of its claim to represent all China although it controls only Taiwan and a few offshore islands; and how to democratize Taiwan's political system, while ensuring that differences between the island's native Taiwanese and transplanted mainland populations (85 percent vs. 15 percent) did not tear the system apart.
Chiang did not solve all these problems, but he did approach them with patience, insight, and creativity. It was his decision, for example, to expand Taiwanese participation in the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) political party and in government. He personally brought into public service younger, highly trained technocrats who subsequently implemented his reform ideas. To help redress the trade imbalance, Chiang ordered Taiwan trade officials to drastically lower barriers to U.S. goods and services. He reformed elements of Taiwan's political system, lifting martial law and legalizing new political parties, and approved revoking travel restrictions on Taiwanese citizens who wished to visit the mainland. Without Chiang, these policies might have been delayed for years, or perhaps never would have been implemented at all.
Among the many accomplishments of President Chiang, four have been especially important to the United States: (1) He maintained Taiwan's pro-U.S. foreign policy, even when President Jimmy Carter unceremoniously severed diplomatic relations with the ROC in 1979; (2) he created Taiwan's "miracle" economy, making that nation the fifth largest trading partner of the United States; (3) he moved Taiwan toward democracy, partly in response to U.S. pressure; and (4) he approved initial contact between citizens of Taiwan and mainland China, which serves U.S. interests by further reducing tensions in the Taiwan strait.
Challenges to successors
The critical question is whether Chiang's forward-looking policies will continue in the post-Chiang period. He was at once Taiwan's undisputed leader and its most effective reformer. Now that he is gone, Taiwan's leadership probably will consist of several highly competent, but less powerful figures, including President Lee Teng-hui, Premier Yu Kuo-hua, KMT Secretary-General Lee Huan, and chief of general staff, Gen. Hau Pei-tsun.
It is highly probable that Chiang's policies will be continued under this collective leadership, but Taiwan's new leaders will face a set of very difficult economic and political problems that had not been resolved at the time of
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