Taiwan's Party Politics and Cross-Strait Relations in Evolution (2008-2018)

摘要

Lin's book examines how Taiwan's volatile party politics caused the ups and downs of Cross-Strait relations from 2008 to 2018. Lin begins by giving an overview on how Taiwan's then ruling Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) decisions to initiate the political reform in the 1970s. After KMT relocated the Republic of China (ROC) government to Taiwan in 1949, it focused on cultivating the Chinese identity to the population. However, this assimilation effort did not decrease the ethnic tension between the mainlanders and native Taiwanese. The tension remained high and people's distrust of the KMT leadership grew, despite the vibrant economic growth since the 1950s. The political marginalization of the Republic of China (ROC) regime in the 1970s became the final straw for then President Chiang Ching-kuo to lift the Martial Law and the ban on forming the opposition parties to secure the public support for the KMT. The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was formed in 1986 as a result.