Republic of China on Taiwan

The Republic of China on Taiwan Era (), also known as the Taiwan Post-war Era (), refers to the period in , between the end of World War II in 1945 and the present, in which the Republic of China administers Taiwan and the surrounding islands.

Overview

Early post-war societal situation

In the spring of 1945, Japan, along with Germany, was defeated and with the signing of the Instrument of Surrender, the Second World War had come to a close. He Yingqin, the Chinese representative at that time established a provincial executive office for Taiwan separate from the provincial-level executive system on the Mainland. After the establishment of the provincial executive office, Chen Yi was appointed Chief Executive.
Due to corruption within Chen Yi's administration, it became evident that there was a lack of discipline in the military police and its chain of command was severely undermined. With the rampant corruption in his administration, Chen Yi began to monopolized power. In addition, the Island's post-war economy was failing and was heading into a recession, causing people on the island to endure economic hardship. The Government's programme of "Dejapanization" created cultural estrangement. As people from the mainland began to migrate to the island, there was growing tension and strain in the relationship between the migrants from the mainland and the residents of the island. The tension and strain that had been building up, erupted in 1947, triggered with the arrest of a cigarette vendor and the shooting of a bystander causing clashes between the police and the residents; this event was known as the 228 Incident. Several weeks later, Government troops were sent to Taiwan to handle the crisis and to suppress any opposition or resistance to the Government. Many prominent individuals of the society, as well as other residents of the island, many of whom had nothing to do with the incident, were either killed, imprisoned without trial, or simply disappeared. The 228 incident was a prelude to the white terror of 1950s, which buried the seeds of ethnic antagonism and the Taiwanese independence movement. After the 228 incident, the Nationalist government reorganized the local governing system, abolishing the provincial executive office, while establishing a new provincial government. Wey Daw-ming, whose parents were scholars, became the first governor of Taiwan province and, during his administration, reduced the scope of public enterprise. In 1949, Chen Cheng became governor of Taiwan. He reformed the currency system (the old Taiwan dollar exchanged at a ratio of 40,000:1 for the New Taiwan dollar) and implemented the 375 Rent Reduction (ä¸‰ä¸ƒäº”æ¸›ç§Ÿ), easing the inflationary situation.

From authoritarianism to democracy

In 1949, the National Revolutionary Army and the Kuomintang suffered a major defeat in the Chinese Civil War, forcing the Government of the Republic of China to relocate to Taiwan. This allowed defeat and relocation allowed the Communist Party of China to declare the establishment of a new Chinese state: the People's Republic of China. As the Kuomintang were establishing a "provisional" base in Taiwan, the party began to plan and threaten counterattacks on the mainland, however, without the support of the United States and its armed forces, the Kuomintang was only able to coordinate and carry out small-scale military campaigns across the strait, which lasted until the Second Strait Crisis. From that point on, both sides of the strait have ceased all major hostilities against each other. The Government, under the Kuomintang, through its enforcement of martial law, kept a powerful hold on the State and its people throughout the Cold War. Due to the fact that the Republic of China was under authoritarian rule, any perceived opposition to the Government was considered illegally and dealt with harshly.

A step towards political party rotation

In the 2000 presidential election, Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was elected president with Annette Lu as vice-president. This was the first political party rotation in the history of the ROC. The splitting of Kuomintang vote was what apparently led to this result. In August 2002, President Chen openly indicated that the relationship between Taiwan and the mainland is "One Country on Each Side". This declaration led to disputations throughout Taiwan, in mainland China and in the United States. In 2004, the day before the 2004 presidential election, there was a supposed assassination attempt on President Chen and Vice-President Lu. They were re-elected the next day, although the Pan-Blue Coalition disputed the legality of the result due to the close margin of the election and the shooting incident. In 2005, an ad hoc National Assembly passed constitutional amendments ruling that elections for the Legislative Yuan change to use of parallel voting, aiding the formation of a two-party system. As a result of scandals in the DPP administration, on September 9, 2006, former chairperson of the DPP, Shih Ming-teh, led an anti-Chen Shui-bian campaign called the Million Voices against Corruption, President Chen Must Go but did not achieve the desired result of President Chen's resignation.

Changes in cross-straits relations and international position

At the end of 1943, the Cairo Declaration was issued, including among its clauses that all territories of China, including Taiwan, that Japan had occupied would be returned to the Republic of China. This declaration was reiterated in the Potsdam Declaration, issued in 1945. Later that year, World War II ended, and Japan accepted the Potsdam Declaration, surrendering unconditionally. The Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces commanded that the Japanese forces in Taiwan surrender to the government of the Republic of China. On October 25, 1945 in Taipei Zhongshan Hall, the Japanese government in Taiwan surrendered to the representative of the Republic of China, Chen Yi, the Republic of China formally receiving Taiwan. In 1951, Japan formally signed the Treaty of San Francisco, but, due to the unclear situation of the Chinese civil war, the peace treaty did not clearly indicate to whom Taiwan's sovereignty belonged. In the second article of the 1952 Treaty of Taipei, following the Treaty of San Francisco, Japan reiterated its abandonment of sovereignty of Taiwan, the Pescadores, the Spratlys and the Paracels. In 1972, Japan and the Republic of China broke relations, declaring the Treaty of Taipei to invalidated. At the same time, Japan and the People's Republic of China agreed to and signed the Joint Communiqué of the Government of Japan and the Government of the People's Republic of China. The question of the political status of Taiwan or whether the two sides are moving toward unification or continuing a state of independence is still unresolved. The assertion of the People's Republic of China both domestically and internationally is "Whether from the perspective of history, government or international law, Taiwan is an inseparable part of China. The political status of Taiwan is a Chinese domestic affair, and, under the premise of no hope for unification as well as certain other (conditions), (the Chinese government) does not abandon (the possibility of) the use of force to resolve it." Those persons promoting Taiwan independence feel that, because of the Treaty of San Francisco signed by Japan and the United States and the unclear indication of the handover of Taiwan's sovereignty (the status of Taiwan was not decided on), Taiwan's future direction should be decided upon by the people of Taiwan and that the People's Republic of China not be permitted to threaten the use of force. On March 14, 2005, the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China passed the , making clear for the first time in legal form the One-China principle. Some people in Taiwan felt dissatisfied about this, and, on March 26, 1,000,000 people went to the streets of Taipei, participating in the 326 Protect Taiwan Demonstration, indicating their strong dissatisfaction with and protest of the law. Beginning on April 26, 2005, KMT, DPP and various political parties visited mainland China, creating an upsurge in the political dialogue between the two sides (see 2005 Pan-Blue visits to mainland China), but cross-straits relations are still full of uncertainty.

Up until the 1970's, the international community generally considered the Kuomintang on Taiwan to be the legal representative of China, but acknowledgment of the nation of the People's Republic of China slowly increased. In 1954, the Republic of China and the United States signed the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of China. In 1971, the United Nations acknowledged the People's Republic of China to be the sole legal representative of China (United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758). The KMT government strengthened their "Han and the thief cannot both stand"(æ¼¢è³Šä¸?å…©ç«‹) stance and announced withdrawal from the United Nations. After this, the international position of the Republic of China slid to a large extent. In 1979, when the United States broke relations, it created an even more severe attack on the diplomatic plight of the ROC. In recent years, the ROC government has tried several times to apply anew to enter international organizations such as the United Nations and the World Health Organization, but, under the opposing side's powerful obstruction, there has been no success.

Economic growth

Societal changes

Culture of plurality

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