Book Review

Asia

The Chinese Communist government in Beijing and the Nationalist government in Taipei have pursued contrasting courses of political, economic, and social development throughout the second half of the twentieth century. While the People's Republic of China on the mainland has pursued Marxist objectives, experiencing periods of considerable social upheaval to arrive at a limited market economy, the Republic of China on Taiwan has promoted a capitalist economy and a democratic political structure similar to those of Western countries. In this detailed account, Linda Chao and Ramon H. Myers document the mostly peaceful growth of a democratic society under the guidance of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party).

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The authors focus on Taiwan's political transformation from an authoritarian regime that established martial law on May 20, 1949, maintaining it for thirty-eight years, to a democracy that held its first direct national elections on March 23, 1996. They view the evolution of Taiwan's government from an "inhibited political center into a subordinated political center" (p. 18) as a succession of stages in which political opposition, tolerated by Nationalist leaders making ideological adjustments, received institutional expression through local, and later national, elections. In an effort to penetrate through the bias of pro-Nationalist rhetoric, Chao and Myers recount severe incidents of repression that occured soon after martial law went into effect and contend that such repression persisted to a degree as long as martial law continued. Nevertheless, they maintain that democracy gradually expanded during this period.

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