Editing Taiwan (section)

===Republic of China (1945–present)===
{{Main|Republic of China (1912–1949)|History of Taiwan (1945–present)}}
{{See also|History of the Republic of China|Chinese Civil War}}
[[File:General Chen Yi of China accepts the surrender of Andō Rikichi, the Japanese Governor-General of.jpg|thumb|General [[Chen Yi (Kuomintang)|Chen Yi]] (right) accepting the receipt of [[General Order No. 1]] from [[Rikichi Andō]] (left), the last Japanese governor-general of Taiwan, in [[Zhongshan Hall|Taipei City Hall]]]]

While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the [[Republic of China (1912–1949)|Republic of China]] was founded on [[mainland China]] on 1 January 1912 following the [[Xinhai Revolution]] of 1911.<ref name="cuhk">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z-fAxn_9f8wC&pg=PA116 |title=China: Five Thousand Years of History and Civilization |date=2007 |publisher=City University Of Hong Kong Press |isbn=978-962-937-140-1 |page=116 |access-date=9 September 2014 |archive-date=10 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230410202400/https://books.google.com/books?id=z-fAxn_9f8wC&pg=PA116 |url-status=live }}</ref> Central authority waxed and waned in response to [[Warlord Era|warlordism]] (1915–28), [[Second Sino-Japanese War|Japanese invasion]] (1937–45), and the [[Chinese Civil War]] (1927–49), with central authority strongest during the [[Nanjing decade]] (1927–37), when most of China came under the control of the [[Kuomintang]] (KMT).<ref>{{cite book |last=Roy |first=Denny |title=Taiwan: A Political History |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2003 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/taiwan00denn/page/55 55], 56 |url=https://archive.org/details/taiwan00denn|url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-8014-8805-4}}</ref> During [[World War II]], the 1943 [[1943 Cairo Declaration|Cairo Declaration]] specified that Formosa and the Pescadores be returned by Japan to the ROC;<ref name="Cairo1943">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=Cairo Communiqué, December 1, 1943 |url=https://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/shiryo/01/002_46shoshi.html |access-date=29 November 2021 |website=Birth of the Constitution of Japan |publisher=National Diet Library |quote=It is their purpose that Japan shall be stripped of all the islands in the Pacific which she has seized or occupied since the beginning of the first World War in 1914, and that all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa, and The Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China. |archive-date=26 July 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170726215106/http://www.ndl.go.jp/constitution/e/shiryo/01/002_46shoshi.html |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfnp|Ballantine|1952|p=162: "United States Government replied on this point as follows:{{nbsp}}... Cairo Declaration provided that Manchuria, Formosa, and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China"}} the terms were later repeated in the 1945 [[Potsdam Declaration]]<ref name="Potsdam1945">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=Potsdam Declaration |url=https://www.atomicheritage.org/key-documents/potsdam-declaration |access-date=29 November 2021 |website=The Atomic Heritage Foundation |publisher=The Atomic Heritage Foundation and the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History |quote=The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine. |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130072847/https://www.atomicheritage.org/key-documents/potsdam-declaration |url-status=live }}</ref> that Japan agreed to carry out in [[Japanese Instrument of Surrender|its instrument of surrender]].<ref name="JapanSurrender">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=Japanese Instrument of Surrender |url=https://www.archivesfoundation.org/documents/japanese-instrument-surrender-1945/ |access-date=29 November 2021 |website=The National Archives Foundation |publisher=The National Archives |quote=We hereby undertake for the Emperor, the Japanese Government and their successors to carry out the provisions of the Potsdam Declaration in good faith |archive-date=30 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211130103518/https://www.archivesfoundation.org/documents/japanese-instrument-surrender-1945/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfnp|Ballantine|1952|p=58}} On [[Retrocession Day|25 October 1945]], Japan surrendered Taiwan to the ROC, and in the [[Treaty of San Francisco]], Japan formally renounced their claims to the islands, though without specifying to whom they were surrendered.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=4 May 1955 |title=Far East (Formosa and the Pescadores) |url=https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1955/may/04/far-east-formosa-and-the-pescadores#S5CV0540P0_19550504_HOC_582 |url-status=live |journal=Hansard |volume=540 |issue=cc1870–4 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171018112311/http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/commons/1955/may/04/far-east-formosa-and-the-pescadores#S5CV0540P0_19550504_HOC_582 |archive-date=18 October 2017 |access-date=1 September 2010 |quote=The sovereignty was Japanese until 1952. The Japanese Treaty came into force, and at that time Formosa was being administered by the Chinese Nationalists, to whom it was entrusted in 1945, as a military occupation.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Charney |first1=Jonathan I. |last2=Prescott |first2=J. R. V. |year=2000 |title=Resolving Cross-Strait Relations Between China and Taiwan |journal=American Journal of International Law |volume=94 |issue=3 |pages=453–477 |doi=10.2307/2555319 |jstor=2555319 |s2cid=144402230 |quote=After occupying Taiwan in 1945 as a result of Japan's surrender, the Nationalists were defeated on the mainland in 1949, abandoning it to retreat to Taiwan.}}</ref><ref name="SanFrancisco1951">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=Treaty of Peace with Japan |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20136/volume-136-I-1832-English.pdf |access-date=29 November 2021 |website=United Nations Treaties Collection |publisher=The United Nations |archive-date=29 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170929012644/https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20136/volume-136-I-1832-English.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Alagappa |first=Muthiah |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Zx7nPeGWgwC&pg=PA265 |title=Taiwan's presidential politics |publisher=M.E. Sharpe |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-7656-0834-5 |page=265 |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816165959/https://books.google.com/books?id=2Zx7nPeGWgwC&pg=PA265#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=live }}</ref>{{efn|Interpretations on whether sovereignty was transferred to the ROC varies. ROC took control of Taiwan under [[General Order No. 1]], on behalf of the [[Allies of World War II]]. Taiwan was simultaneously established as a [[Taiwan Province|ROC province]], though opinions differed among the Allies on the unilateral announcement of annexation of Taiwn by the ROC. Japan later renounced its claims to Taiwan and the Pescadores in the [[Treaty of San Francisco]] in 1952; see [[Retrocession Day]], [[Theory of the Undetermined Status of Taiwan]], [[political status of Taiwan]] and [[1943 Cairo Declaration]].}} In the same year, Japan and the ROC signed [[Treaty of Taipei|a peace treaty]].<ref name="Taipei1952">{{cite web |author=<!--Not stated--> |title=Treaty of Peace between the Repuiblic of China and Japan |url=https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20138/v138.pdf |access-date=29 November 2021 |website=United Nations Treaties Collection |publisher=The United Nations |archive-date=9 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209020538/https://treaties.un.org/doc/Publication/UNTS/Volume%20138/v138.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

While initially enthusiastic about the return of Chinese administration and the [[Three Principles of the People]], Formosans grew increasingly dissatisfied about being excluded from higher positions, the postponement of local elections even after the enactment of a [[ROC Constitution|constitution]] on the mainland, the smuggling of valuables off the island, the expropriation of businesses into government-operated monopolies, and the [[hyperinflation]] of 1945–1949.{{sfnp|Makinen|Woodward|1989|ps=: "Yet, the Chinese Nationalist government attempted to isolate Taiwan from the mainland inflation by creating it as an independent currency area. And during the later stages of the civil war it was able to end the hyperinflation on Taiwan, something it was unable to do on the mainland despite two attempts."}}<ref>{{cite magazine |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |date=1948 |title=Formosa in transition |magazine=The World Today |publisher=Royal Institute of International Affairs |volume=4 |issue=5 |page=213}}</ref>{{sfnp|Ballantine|1952|p=59}}{{sfnp|United States|1949|pp=923–925}} The shooting of a civilian on 28 February 1947 triggered island-wide unrest, which was suppressed with military force in what is now called the [[February 28 Incident]].<ref>{{cite news |title=China: Snow Red & Moon Angel |date=7 April 1947 |newspaper=Time|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,804090,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070111074426/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,804090,00.html|archive-date=11 January 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Shackleton |first1=Allan J. |year=1998 |title=Formosa Calling: An Eyewitness Account of Conditions in Taiwan during the February 28th, 1947 Incident |url=http://homepage.usask.ca/~llr130/taiwanlibrary/formosacalling/formosa-calling.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110205010159/http://homepage.usask.ca/~llr130/taiwanlibrary/formosacalling/formosa-calling.pdf |archive-date=5 February 2011 |publisher=Taiwan Publishing Company |oclc=40888167 |access-date=18 December 2014 }}</ref> Mainstream estimates of the number killed range from 18,000 to 30,000.{{sfnp|Ballantine|1952|p=63}}{{sfnp|United States|1949|p=932}}<ref>{{cite news |title=Taiwan takes first steps to explain 1947 massacre |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/02/28/Taiwan-takes-first-steps-to-explain-1947-massacre/4123667717200/ |work=United Press International |date=28 February 1991 |language=en |access-date=30 January 2022 |archive-date=30 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220130133334/https://www.upi.com/Archives/1991/02/28/Taiwan-takes-first-steps-to-explain-1947-massacre/4123667717200/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Chen was later replaced by [[Wei Tao-ming]], who made an effort to undo previous mismanagement by re-appointing a good proportion of islanders and re-privatizing businesses.{{sfnp|Ballantine|1952|pp=64–65}}

[[File:ROC_Retreat_to_Taiwan.svg|thumb|left|The Nationalists' retreat to Taipei]]

After the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War resumed. A series of Chinese Communist offensives in 1949 led to the capture of its capital [[Nanjing]] on 23 April and the subsequent defeat of the Nationalists on the mainland. The Communists [[Proclamation of the People's Republic of China|founded the People's Republic of China]] on 1 October.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Kubek|first=Anthony |title=How the Far East was lost: American policy and the creation of Communist China|year=1963|publisher=Intercontex Publishers (England) Limited |isbn=978-0-85622-000-5}}</ref> On 7 December 1949, [[Chiang Kai-Shek]] [[Retreat of the Republic of China to Taiwan|evacuated his Nationalist government to Taiwan]] and made Taipei the [[temporary capital]] of the ROC.<ref name="wartime-capital">{{cite web|author-link=Huang Fu-san |last=Huang |first=Fu-san |year=2010 |url=http://info.gio.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=27358&CtNode=2527&mp=21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429070335/http://info.gio.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=27358&CtNode=2527&mp=21 |archive-date=29 April 2011 |script-title=zh:臺灣簡史－麻雀變鳳凰的故事 |language=zh |trans-title=A Brief History of Taiwan: A Sparrow Transformed into a Phoenix |publisher=Government Information Office, Republic of China|access-date=13 September 2009|quote={{lang|zh-hant|1949年，國民政府退守臺灣後，以臺北為戰時首都}}}}</ref> Some 2 million people, mainly soldiers, members of the ruling Kuomintang and intellectual and business elites, were evacuated to Taiwan, adding to the earlier population of approximately six million. These people and their descendants became known in Taiwan as "[[waisheng ren]]" ({{lang|zh|外省人}}). The ROC government took to Taipei many national treasures and much of China's [[gold reserves|gold]] and foreign currency reserves.<ref name="bbctimeline-retreat">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/asia_pacific/2000/taiwan_elections2000/1949_1955.stm|title=Taiwan Timeline&nbsp;– Retreat to Taiwan|year=2000|work=BBC News|access-date=21 June 2009|archive-date=24 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090624190413/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/asia_pacific/2000/taiwan_elections2000/1949_1955.stm|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Dunbabin |first=J.P.D. |title=The Cold War |publisher=Pearson Education |year=2008 |page=187 |isbn=978-0-582-42398-5 |url={{GBurl|id=IVriqPvx7iwC|p=187}} |quote=In 1949 Chiang Kai-shek had transferred to Taiwan the government, gold reserve, and some of the army of his Republic of China.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Ng|first=Franklin|title=The Taiwanese Americans|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=1998|page=10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lPzsB_wJQW0C&pg=PA10|isbn=978-0-313-29762-5|access-date=25 July 2023|archive-date=16 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816170041/https://books.google.com/books?id=lPzsB_wJQW0C&pg=PA10|url-status=live}}</ref> Most of the gold was used to pay soldiers' salaries,<ref>{{cite web|last=Yang|first=Lavai|translator-last=Williams|translator-first=Scott|date=July 2011|url=https://www.taiwanpanorama.com.tw/Articles/Details?Guid=b4b88183-6665-4724-ba38-cb641433113d&langId=3&CatId=7|title=Taiwan's Love Affair with Gold|website=Taiwan Panorama|access-date=5 February 2023|archive-date=28 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328162524/https://www.taiwanpanorama.com.tw/Articles/Details?Guid=b4b88183-6665-4724-ba38-cb641433113d&langId=3&CatId=7|url-status=live}}</ref> with some used to issue the [[New Taiwan dollar]], part of a price stabilization program to slow inflation in Taiwan.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=8&post=13804&unitname=Economics-Taiwan-Review&postname=Money-Value-of-the-New-Taiwan-Currency|title=Money Value of the New Taiwan Currency|website=Taiwan Today|date=1 June 1954|access-date=5 February 2023|archive-date=16 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816170015/https://www.taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=8&post=13804&unitname=Economics-Taiwan-Review&postname=Money-Value-of-the-New-Taiwan-Currency|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Li|first=Shih-hui|year=2005|title=The Currency Conversion in Postwar Taiwan: Gold Standard from 1949 to 1950|journal=The Kyoto Economic Review|volume=74|issue=2|pages=191–203|doi=10.11179/KER.74.191}}</ref>

After losing control of mainland China in 1949, the ROC retained control of Taiwan and Penghu ([[Taiwan Province|Taiwan, ROC]]), parts of Fujian ([[Fujian Province, Republic of China|Fujian, ROC]])—specifically Kinmen, [[Wuqiu, Kinmen|Wuqiu]] (now part of Kinmen) and the Matsu Islands and two major [[South China Sea Islands|islands in the South China Sea]]. The ROC also briefly retained control of the entirety of [[Hainan]], parts of [[Zhejiang]] ([[Chekiang Province, Republic of China|Chekiang]])—specifically the [[Dachen Islands]] and [[Yijiangshan Islands]]—and portions of [[Tibet (1912–1951)|Tibet]], [[Qinghai]], [[Xinjiang Province, Republic of China|Xinjiang]] and [[Yunnan]]. The Communists [[battle of Hainan Island|captured Hainan]] in 1950, captured the Dachen Islands and Yijiangshan Islands during the [[First Taiwan Strait Crisis]] in 1955 and defeated the [[Kuomintang Islamic insurgency|ROC revolts in Northwest China]] in 1958. ROC forces entered Burma and Thailand in the 1950s and [[1960–61 campaign at the China–Burma border|were defeated by Communists in 1961]]. Since losing control of mainland China, the Kuomintang continued to claim sovereignty over 'all of China', which it defined to include mainland China (including Tibet), Taiwan (including Penghu), [[Outer Mongolia]], and [[administrative divisions of Taiwan|other minor territories]].

====Martial law era (1949–1987)====
{{See also|Martial law in Taiwan|Taiwan Miracle}}

[[File:Chiang Kai-shek in full uniform.jpeg|thumb|upright|[[Chiang Kai-shek]], leader of the [[Kuomintang]] from 1925 until his death in 1975|alt=A Chinese man in military uniform, smiling and looking towards the left. He holds a sword in his left hand and has a medal in shape of a sun on his chest.]]

[[Martial law]], declared on Taiwan in May 1949,<ref name="martial">{{cite web |publisher=National Archives Administration, National Development Council |url=https://www.archives.gov.tw/Publish.aspx?cnid=1014&p=857 |script-title=zh:三、 台灣戒嚴令 |language=zh |trans-title=III. Decree to establish martial law in Taiwan |date=2 October 2009 |access-date=15 September 2017 |archive-date=10 October 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121010204025/http://www.archives.gov.tw/Publish.aspx?cnid=1014&p=857 |url-status=live }}</ref> continued to be in effect until 1987,<ref name="martial" /><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.taiwandc.org/228-intr.htm|title=28 February 1947&nbsp;– Taiwan's Holocaust Remembered&nbsp;– 60th Commemoration|year=2007|publisher=New Taiwan, Ilha Formosa|access-date=2 July 2009|archive-date=31 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031023758/http://www.taiwandc.org/228-intr.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> and was used to suppress political opposition. During the [[White Terror (Taiwan)|White Terror]], as the period is known, 140,000 people were imprisoned or executed for being perceived as anti-KMT or pro-Communist.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Malaysia/Story/A1Story20080716-77050.html|title=Taiwan president apologises for 'white terror' era|agency=Reuters|access-date=2 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401191615/http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Malaysia/Story/A1Story20080716-77050.html|archive-date=1 April 2019}}</ref> Many citizens were arrested, tortured, imprisoned or executed for their real or perceived link to the Chinese Communist Party. Since these people were mainly from the intellectual and social elite, an entire generation of political and social leaders was destroyed.

Following the eruption of the [[Korean War]], US President [[Harry S. Truman]] dispatched the [[United States Seventh Fleet]] into the [[Taiwan Strait]] to prevent hostilities between the ROC and the PRC.<ref name=1950-US-DoD>{{Cite web |author=US Department of Defense |title=Classified Teletype Conference, dated 27 June 1950, between the Pentagon and General Douglas MacArthur regarding authorization to use naval and air forces in support of South Korea. Papers of Harry S. Truman: Naval Aide Files |publisher=Truman Presidential Library and Museum |year=1950 |url=http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/korea/large/week1/kw_22_1.htm |page=1 and 4 |quote=Page 1: In addition 7th Fleet will take station so as to prevent invasion of Formosa and to insure that Formosa not be used as base of operations against Chinese mainland." Page 4: "Seventh Fleet is hereby assigned to operational control CINCFE for employment in following task hereby assigned CINCFE: By naval and air action prevent any attack on Formosa, or any air or sea offensive from Formosa against mainland of China. |journal= |access-date=9 March 2006 |archive-date=19 April 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060419074919/http://www.trumanlibrary.org/whistlestop/study_collections/korea/large/week1/kw_22_1.htm }}</ref> The United States also passed the [[Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty]] and the [[Formosa Resolution of 1955]], granting substantial [[United States foreign aid|foreign aid]] to the KMT regime between 1951 and 1965.<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Neil H.|last=Jacoby|url=https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAK054.pdf|title=An Evaluation of U.S. Economic Aid to Free China, 1951–1965|journal=A.I.D. Discussion Paper|date=January 1966|publisher=[[United States Agency for International Development]]|access-date=15 May 2022|archive-date=28 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328162558/https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNAAK054.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> The US foreign aid stabilized prices in Taiwan by 1952.<ref>{{harvnb|Makinen|Woodward|1989}}: "It was the fiscal regime change on Taiwan, as in the European episodes, that finally brought price stability. It was the aid policy that brought the budget to near balance, and when the aid programme reached its full proportions in 1952, prices stabilized."</ref> The KMT government instituted many laws and [[Land reform in Taiwan|land reforms]] that it had never effectively enacted on mainland China.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=4&post=6666|title=The Land Reform Movement in China|website=Taiwan Today|date=1 June 1951|access-date=5 February 2023|archive-date=5 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205032054/https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=4&post=6666|url-status=live}}</ref> Economic development was encouraged by American aid and programs such as the [[Sino-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction|Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction]], which turned the agricultural sector into the basis for later growth. Under the combined stimulus of the land reform and the agricultural development programs, agricultural production increased at an average annual rate of 4 percent from 1952 to 1959.<ref>Ralph Clough, "Taiwan under Nationalist Rule, 1949–1982," in Roderick MacFarquar et al., ed., ''Cambridge History of China'', Vol 15, The People's Republic Pt 2 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), p. 837</ref> The government also implemented a policy of [[import substitution industrialization]], attempting to produce imported goods domestically.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Liu|first1=Da-Nien|last2=Shih|first2=Hui-Tzu|date=4 December 2013|title=The Transformation of Taiwan's Status Within the Production and Supply Chain in Asia|url=https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/the-transformation-of-taiwans-status-within-the-production-and-supply-chain-in-asia/|access-date=6 January 2021|website=Brookings|archive-date=12 June 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612140707/https://www.brookings.edu/opinions/the-transformation-of-taiwans-status-within-the-production-and-supply-chain-in-asia/|url-status=live}}</ref> The policy promoted the development of textile, food, and other labor-intensive industries.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Zhu|first=Tianbiao|year=2006|title=Rethinking Import-substituting Industrialization: Development Strategies and Institutions in Taiwan and China|journal=Research Paper 2006/076|publisher=UNU-WIDER|url=https://www.wider.unu.edu/publication/rethinking-import-substituting-industrialization|access-date=5 February 2023|archive-date=5 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205032054/https://www.wider.unu.edu/publication/rethinking-import-substituting-industrialization|url-status=live}}</ref>

As the Chinese Civil War continued, the government built up military fortifications throughout Taiwan. Veterans built the [[Central Cross-Island Highway]] through the [[Taroko Gorge]] in the 1950s. During the [[Second Taiwan Strait Crisis]] in 1958, [[Nike Hercules]] missiles were added to the formation of missile batteries throughout the island.<ref>{{cite web|last=Smura|first=Tomasz|date=17 October 2016|url=https://pulaski.pl/en/in-the-shadow-of-communistic-missiles-air-and-missile-defence-in-taiwan/|title=In the shadow of Communistic missiles – Air and Missile Defence in Taiwan|website=Casimir Pulaski Foundation|access-date=10 January 2023|archive-date=10 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230110100043/https://pulaski.pl/en/in-the-shadow-of-communistic-missiles-air-and-missile-defence-in-taiwan/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Halperin|first=M.H.|year=1966|url=https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_memoranda/2006/RM4900.pdf|title=Memorandum RM-4900-ISA (Abridged), The 1958 Taiwan Straits Crisis: A Documented History (U)|website=RAND Corporation|access-date=10 January 2023|archive-date=20 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220124223/https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_memoranda/2006/RM4900.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:U.S. President Eisenhower visited TAIWAN 美國總統艾森豪於1960年6月訪問臺灣台北時與蔣中正總統-2.jpg|thumb|left|With Chiang Kai-shek, US president [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] waved to crowds during his visit to Taipei in June 1960.]]
During the 1960s and 1970s, the ROC maintained an authoritarian, single-party government under the Kuomintang's [[Dang Guo]] system while its economy became industrialized and technology-oriented.<ref name="bbctimeline-coldwar">{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/asia_pacific/2000/taiwan_elections2000/1955_1972.stm |title=Taiwan Timeline&nbsp;– Cold war fortress |year=2002 |work=BBC News |access-date=2 July 2009 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401173507/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/asia_pacific/2000/taiwan_elections2000/1955_1972.stm |url-status=live }}</ref> This rapid economic growth, known as the [[Taiwan Miracle]], occurred following a strategy of prioritizing agriculture, light industries, and heavy industries, in that order.{{sfnp|Hsü|1982|p=173}} [[Export-oriented industrialization]] was achieved by tax rebate for exports, removal of import restriction, moving from multiple exchange rate to single exchange rate system, and depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar.<ref>{{cite web|last=Wu|first=Tsong-Min|year=2016|title=From Economic Controls to Export Expansion in Postwar Taiwan: 1946–1960|url=https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/16030030.html|website=RIETI|access-date=5 February 2023|archive-date=5 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205032052/https://www.rieti.go.jp/en/publications/summary/16030030.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Ten Major Construction Projects|Infrastructure projects]] such as the [[Sun Yat-sen Freeway]], [[Taoyuan International Airport]], [[Taichung Harbor]], and [[Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant]] were launched, while the rise of steel, petrochemical, and shipbuilding industries in southern Taiwan saw the transformation of Kaohsiung into a special municipality on par with Taipei.{{sfnp|Hsü|1982|p=174}} In the 1970s, Taiwan became the second fastest growing economy in Asia.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917286-3,00.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091220041321/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,917286-3,00.html |archive-date=20 December 2009 |title=China: Chiang Kai-shek: Death of the Casualty |date=14 April 1975 |newspaper=Time |page=3 }}</ref> Real growth in [[Gross domestic product|GDP]] averaged over 10 percent.<ref name="Wu&Cheng2002">{{cite web|last1=Wu|first1=Rong-i|last2=Cheng|first2=Cheng-mount|url=https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=8&post=12649&unitname=Economics-Taiwan-Review&postname=Going-Up|title=Going Up|website=Taiwan Today|date=1 June 2002|access-date=5 February 2023|archive-date=5 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205032049/https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=8&post=12649&unitname=Economics-Taiwan-Review&postname=Going-Up|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1978, the combination of tax incentives and a cheap, well-trained labor force attracted investments of over $1.9 billion from [[overseas Chinese]], the United States, and Japan.{{sfnp|Hsü|1982|pp=175, 176}} By 1980, foreign trade reached $39 billion per year and generated a surplus of $46.5 million.{{sfnp|Hsü|1982|p=173}} Along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea, Taiwan became known as one of the [[Four Asian Tigers]].

Because of the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s. Eventually, especially after [[United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758|Taiwan's expulsion from the United Nations]], most nations switched [[diplomatic recognition]] to the PRC. Until the 1970s, the ROC government was regarded by Western critics as undemocratic for upholding martial law, severely repressing any political opposition, and controlling the media. The KMT did not allow the creation of new parties and competitive democratic elections did not exist.<ref>{{cite book |last=Sun |first=Yat-sen |author2=Julie Lee Wei |author3=Ramon Hawley Myers |author4=Donald G. Gillin |title=Prescriptions for saving China: selected writings of Sun Yat-sen |editor=Julie Lee Wei |editor2=Ramon Hawley Myers |editor3=Donald G. Gillin |publisher=Hoover Press |year=1994 |page=36 |isbn=978-0-8179-9281-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YA3TzmnYRpYC |quote=The party first applied Sun's concept of political tutelage by governing through martial law, not tolerating opposition parties, controlling the public media, and using the 1947 constitution drawn up on the China mainland to govern. Thus, much of the world in those years gave the government low scores for democracy and human rights but admitted it had accomplished an economic miracle. |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816170004/https://books.google.com/books?id=YA3TzmnYRpYC |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Chao |first=Linda |author2=Ramon Hawley Myers |title=Democracy's new leaders in the Republic of China on Taiwan |publisher=Hoover Press |year=1997 |page=3 |isbn=978-0-8179-3802-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tIiAd4MABAIC |quote=Although this party [the KMT] had initiated a democratic breakthrough and guided the democratic transition, it had also upheld martial law for thirty-six years and severely repressed political dissent and any efforts to establish an opposition party.{{nbsp}}... How was it possible that this party, so hated by opposition politicians and long regarded by Western critics as a dictatorial, Leninist-type party, still remained in power? |access-date=25 July 2023 |archive-date=16 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816170011/https://books.google.com/books?id=tIiAd4MABAIC |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfnp|Fung|2000|p=67|ps=: "Nanjing was not only undemocratic and repressive but also inefficient and corrupt.{{nbsp}}... Furthermore, like other authoritarian regimes, the GMD sought to control people's mind."}}{{sfnp|Fung|2000|p=85|ps=: "The response to national emergency, critics argued, was not merely military, it was, even more important, political, requiring the termination of one-party dictatorship and the development of democratic institutions."}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Copper|first=John Franklin|title=Consolidating Taiwan's democracy|publisher=University Press of America|year=2005|page=8|isbn=978-0-7618-2977-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=761bWuEtEfEC|quote=Also, the "Temporary Provisions" (of the Constitution) did not permit forming new political parties, and those that existed at this time did not seriously compete with the Nationalist Party. Thus, at the national level the KMT did not permit competitive democratic elections.|access-date=25 July 2023|archive-date=16 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816171005/https://books.google.com/books?id=761bWuEtEfEC|url-status=live}}</ref>

From the late 1970s to the 1990s, Taiwan underwent political and social reforms that transformed it into a democracy.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Chou|first1=Yangsun|last2=Nathan|first2=Andrew J.|year=1987|title=Democratizing Transition in Taiwan|journal=Maryland Series in Contemporary Asian Studies|volume=1987|issue=3|url=https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mscas/vol1987/iss3/|access-date=12 January 2023|archive-date=12 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230112221354/https://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/mscas/vol1987/iss3/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Ko|first1=Jim W.|year=2004|title=Cold War Triumph – Taiwan Democratized in Spite of U.S. Efforts|journal=Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law|volume=36|issue=1|pages=137–181|url=https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1389&context=jil|access-date=12 January 2023|archive-date=11 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230311021237/https://scholarlycommons.law.case.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1389&context=jil|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Chiang Ching-kuo]], Chiang Kai-shek's son, served as [[Premier of the Republic of China|premier]] from 1972 and rose to the presidency in 1978. He sought to move more authority to "[[bensheng ren]]" (residents of Taiwan before Japan's surrender and their descendants).<ref name="Kagan">Richard Kagan. ''Taiwan's Statesman: Lee Teng-hui and Democracy in Asia.'' Naval Institute Press, 2014. p. 91–93. {{ISBN|978-1-61251-755-1}}</ref> Pro-democracy activists ''[[Tangwai movement|Tangwai]]'' emerged as the opposition. In 1979, the [[Kaohsiung Incident]] took place in [[Kaohsiung]] on [[Human Rights Day]]. Although the protest was rapidly crushed by the authorities, it is considered as the main event that united Taiwan's opposition.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/asia_pacific/2000/taiwan_elections2000/1972_1986.stm|title=Out with the old|year=2002|work=BBC News|access-date=30 October 2009|archive-date=23 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223024239/http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/asia_pacific/2000/taiwan_elections2000/1972_1986.stm|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1984, Chiang Ching-kuo selected [[Lee Teng-hui]] as his vice-president. After the [[Democratic Progressive Party]] (DPP) was (illegally) founded as the first opposition party in Taiwan to counter the KMT in 1986, Chiang announced that he would allow the formation of new parties.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/10/08/taiwan-president-to-propose-end-to-islands-martial-law/363c7248-ccc9-4173-8599-419a587b5800/|title=Taiwan President to Propose End to Island's Martial Law|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=8 October 1986|access-date=12 January 2023|archive-date=28 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328162657/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1986/10/08/taiwan-president-to-propose-end-to-islands-martial-law/363c7248-ccc9-4173-8599-419a587b5800/|url-status=live}}</ref> On 15 July 1987, Chiang lifted martial law on the main island of Taiwan.<ref>{{cite news|last=Southerl|first=Daniel|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/07/15/after-38-years-taiwan-lifts-martial-law/6ba420e6-f061-467a-9647-63858e4956b3/|title=After 38 Years, Taiwan Lifts Martial Law|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=15 July 1987|access-date=10 December 2022|archive-date=28 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328162657/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/07/15/after-38-years-taiwan-lifts-martial-law/6ba420e6-f061-467a-9647-63858e4956b3/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://law.moj.gov.tw/ENG/LawClass/LawAll.aspx?pcode=F0120018|title=Compensation Act for Wrongful Trials on Charges of Sedition and Espionage during the Martial Law Period|website=Laws and Regulations Database of the Republic of China (Taiwan)|access-date=10 December 2022|quote=if the case took place in Kinmen, Matsu, Dongsha and Nansha, the term "martial law period" refers to the period of time from December 10, 1948 to November 6, 1992.}}</ref>

====Transition to democracy====
{{See also|Politics of the Republic of China}}

[[File:President Lee teng hui.png|thumb|upright|In 1988, [[Lee Teng-hui]] became the first president of the Republic of China born in Taiwan and was the first to be directly elected in 1996.]]

After Chiang Ching-kuo's death in 1988, [[Lee Teng-hui]] became the first president of the ROC born in Taiwan.<ref>{{cite news |date=14 January 1988 |title=Taiwan Leader Chiang Dies; Pushed Reform |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-14-mn-36123-story.html |access-date=14 January 2023 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114130902/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-01-14-mn-36123-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Lee's administration oversaw a period of [[democratization]] in which the [[Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion]] were abolished and the [[Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China|Additional Articles of the Constitution]] were introduced.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Chiou |first=C.L. |year=1993 |title=The 1990 National Affairs Conference and the future of democracy in Taiwan |journal=Bulletin of Concerned Asian Scholars |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=17–33 |doi=10.1080/14672715.1993.10408343|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref name="Tang1999">{{cite conference |last=Tang |first=Dennis Te-chung |year=1999 |title=Constitutional Reforms in Taiwan in the 1990s |url=https://idv.sinica.edu.tw/dennis/19990712.pdf |conference=5th World Congress of the International Association of Constitutional Law |publisher=Erasmus University |access-date=14 January 2023 |archive-date=14 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114130909/https://idv.sinica.edu.tw/dennis/19990712.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Congressional representation was allocated to only the [[Free area of the Republic of China|Taiwan Area]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leng |first1=Shao-chuan |last2=Lin |first2=Cheng-yi |year=1993 |title=Political Change on Taiwan: Transition to Democracy? |journal=The China Quarterly |volume=136 |issue=136 |pages=805–839 |doi=10.1017/S0305741000032343 |jstor=655592 |s2cid=154907110}}</ref> and Taiwan underwent a process of [[Taiwanese nationalism|localization]] in which Taiwanese culture and history were promoted over a [[Chinese nationalism#In Taiwan|pan-China viewpoint]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Chang |first=Bi-yu |year=2004 |title=From Taiwanisation to De-sinification |journal=China Perspectives |volume=56 |issue=6 |doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.438|doi-access=free }}</ref> while [[Cultural assimilation|assimilationist]] policies were replaced with support for [[multiculturalism]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Klöter |first=Henning |year=2004 |title=Language Policy in the KMT and DPP eras |journal=China Perspectives |volume=56 |issue=6 |doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.442|doi-access=free }}</ref> In 1996, Lee was re-elected in [[1996 Taiwanese presidential election|the first direct presidential election]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Richburg |first=Keith B. |date=24 March 1996 |title=China Fails to Sway Election in Taiwan |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/03/24/china-fails-to-sway-election-in-taiwan/224dd1fa-3b95-40b1-ad92-d25f99f4a9fb/ |access-date=14 January 2023 |archive-date=28 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230328162747/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1996/03/24/china-fails-to-sway-election-in-taiwan/224dd1fa-3b95-40b1-ad92-d25f99f4a9fb/ |url-status=live }}</ref> During Lee's administration, both he and his party were involved in corruption controversies that came to be known as "[[black gold (politics)|black gold]]" politics.<ref>{{cite news|last=Ching|first=Heng-wei|date=22 May 2000|title=Lee Teng-hui and the workings of the political machine|url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2000/05/22/0000037016|work=Taipei Times|access-date=14 January 2023|archive-date=14 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114130902/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2000/05/22/0000037016|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Fell|first=Dafydd|year=2005|title=Political and Media Liberalization and Political Corruption in Taiwan|journal=The China Quarterly|volume=184|issue=184|pages=875–893|doi=10.1017/S0305741005000548|jstor=20192543|s2cid=153762560|url=https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/3536/1/fell_political_corruption_in_taiwan.pdf|access-date=16 January 2023|archive-date=11 July 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711092925/https://eprints.soas.ac.uk/3536/1/fell_political_corruption_in_taiwan.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Chung|first=Lawrence|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3095139/lee-teng-hui-controversial-figure-hailed-taiwans-father|title=Lee Teng-hui, a controversial figure hailed as Taiwan's "father of democracy"|work=South China Morning Post|date=30 July 2020|access-date=14 January 2023|archive-date=14 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114130902/https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3095139/lee-teng-hui-controversial-figure-hailed-taiwans-father|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Chen Shui-bian]] of the DPP was [[2000 Taiwanese presidential election|elected as the first non-KMT president in 2000]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/elect/archives/2000/03/19/0000028457|title=39% – A-bian wins – just|work=Taipei Times|date=19 March 2000|access-date=14 January 2023|archive-date=14 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114130904/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/elect/archives/2000/03/19/0000028457|url-status=live}}</ref> However, Chen lacked legislative majority. The opposition KMT developed the [[Pan-Blue Coalition]] with other parties, mustering a slim majority over the DPP-led [[Pan-Green Coalition]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Huang|first=Tong-yi|year=2002|title=Taiwan's 2001 Elections and Its Ongoing Democratic Consolidation|journal=American Journal of Chinese Studies|volume=9|issue=1|pages=43–57|jstor=44288689}}</ref> Polarized politics emerged in Taiwan with the Pan-Blue preference for eventual [[Chinese unification]], while the Pan-Green prefers [[Taiwan independence movement|Taiwanese independence]].

Chen's reference to "[[One Country on Each Side]]" of the Taiwan Strait undercut [[cross-Strait relations]] in 2002.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rigger|first=Shelley|author1-link=Shelley Rigger|year=2003|title=Taiwan in 2002: Another Year of Political Droughts and Typhoons|journal=Asian Survey|volume=43|issue=1|pages=41–48|doi=10.1525/as.2003.43.1.41}}</ref> He pushed for the [[2004 Taiwanese cross-Strait relations referendum|first national referendum]] on cross-Strait relations,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2004/03/21/2003107136|title=Controversial victory for Chen|work=Taipei Times|date=21 March 2004|access-date=14 January 2023|archive-date=14 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230114130906/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2004/03/21/2003107136|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://english.president.gov.tw/NEWS/1705|title=President Chen's Interview by the Washington Post|website=The Office of the President|date=30 March 2004|access-date=14 January 2023|archive-date=16 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816171022/https://english.president.gov.tw/NEWS/1705|url-status=live}}</ref> and called for an end to the [[National Unification Council]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4753974.stm|work=BBC News|title=Taiwan scraps unification council|date=27 February 2006|access-date=9 June 2017|archive-date=9 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220409001459/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/4753974.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> State-run companies began dropping "China" references in their names and including "Taiwan".<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2007/02/10/2003348385|title=State-run firms begin name change|work=Taipei Times|date=10 February 2007|access-date=18 January 2023|archive-date=16 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816171105/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2007/02/10/2003348385|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2008, [[2008 Taiwanese United Nations membership referendums|referendums]] asked whether Taiwan should join the UN.<ref name="lam200803">{{cite journal | last = Lam | first = Willy | title = Ma Ying-jeou and the Future of Cross-Strait Relations | journal = China Brief | volume = 8 | issue = 7 | date = 28 March 2008 | url = http://jamestown.org/china_brief/article.php?articleid=2374064 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080413105956/http://www.jamestown.org/china_brief/article.php?articleid=2374064 |archive-date = 13 April 2008 }}</ref> This act alienated moderate constituents who supported the status quo, as well as those with cross-strait economic ties. It also created tension with the mainland and disagreements with the United States.<ref name="NYT2008">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/world/asia/12taiwan.html|title=Taiwan's Independence Movement Likely to Wane|last=Wong|first=Edward|date=12 March 2008|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=20 February 2017|archive-date=1 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701092006/http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/12/world/asia/12taiwan.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Chen's administration was also dogged by public concerns over reduced economic growth, legislative gridlock, and [[Chen Shui-bian corruption charges|corruption investigations]].<ref name="economist20080323">{{cite news|title=The Nationalists are back in Taiwan|url=https://www.economist.com/asia/2008/03/23/the-nationalists-are-back-in-taiwan|newspaper=The Economist|date=23 March 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116201415/https://www.economist.com/asia/2008/03/23/the-nationalists-are-back-in-taiwan|archive-date=16 November 2018}}</ref><ref name="ft20080325">{{Cite news | title = Straitened times: Taiwan looks to China | newspaper = Financial Times | date = 25 March 2008 | url = http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/07d43e18-fa9a-11dc-aa46-000077b07658.html | access-date = 2 April 2012 | archive-date = 29 March 2008 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080329221133/http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/07d43e18-fa9a-11dc-aa46-000077b07658.html | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="NYT2008" />

[[File:太陽花學運 IMG 5932 (13822412824).jpg|thumb|Students occupied the Legislative Yuan [[Sunflower Student Movement|in protest against]] a controversial [[Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement|trade agreement with China]] in March 2014.]]

The KMT's nominee [[Ma Ying-jeou]] won the [[2008 Republic of China presidential election|2008 presidential election]] on a platform of increased economic growth and better ties with the PRC under a policy of "[[Special non-state-to-state relations|mutual non-denial]]".<ref name="lam200803" /> Under Ma, Taiwan and China opened up direct flights and cargo shipments.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=4&post=4430|title=Going Straight Ahead|website=Taiway Today|date=1 December 2009|access-date=18 January 2023|archive-date=11 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211122718/https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=4&post=4430|url-status=live}}</ref> The PRC government even made the atypical decision to not demand that Taiwan be barred from the annual [[World Health Assembly]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/04/30/2003442391|title=WHO invites "Chinese Taipei" to WHA|work=Taipei Times|date=30 April 2009|access-date=18 January 2023|archive-date=31 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230131203708/https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2009/04/30/2003442391|url-status=live}}</ref> Ma also made an official apology for the White Terror.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7509805.stm |title=Taiwan sorry for white terror era |first=Caroline |last=Gluck |date=16 July 2008 |work=BBC News |access-date=2 April 2012 |archive-date=3 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120403044423/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7509805.stm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last1=Stolojan|first1=Vladimir|last2=Guill|first2=Elizabeth|title=Transitional Justice and Collective Memory in Taiwan: How Taiwanese Society is Coming to Terms with Its Authoritarian Past|year=2017|journal=China Perspectives|volume=2017/2|issue=2 (110) |pages=27–35|doi=10.4000/chinaperspectives.7327|jstor=26380503|doi-access=free}}</ref> However, closer economic ties with China raised concerns about its political consequences.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mearsheimer|first=John J.|title=Say Goodbye to Taiwan|url=https://nationalinterest.org/article/say-goodbye-taiwan-9931|website=The National Interest|date=25 February 2014|access-date=18 January 2023|archive-date=29 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629063027/https://nationalinterest.org/article/say-goodbye-taiwan-9931|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Ho|first=Ming-sho|year=2015|title=Occupy Congress in Taiwan: Political Opportunity, Threat, and the Sunflower Movement|journal=Journal of East Asian Studies|volume=15|issue=1|pages=69–97|doi=10.1017/S1598240800004173|doi-access=free}}</ref> In 2014, university students occupied the Legislative Yuan and prevented the ratification of the [[Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement]] in what became known as the [[Sunflower Student Movement]]. The movement gave rise to youth-based third parties such as the [[New Power Party]], and is viewed to have contributed to the DPP's victories in the [[2016 Taiwanese presidential election|2016 presidential]] and [[2016 Taiwanese legislative election|legislative elections]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ho |first1=Ming-sho |title=The Activist Legacy of Taiwan's Sunflower Movement |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2018/08/the-activist-legacy-of-taiwans-sunflower-movement?lang=en |website=[[Carnegie Endowment for International Peace]] |access-date=4 March 2021 |archive-date=16 August 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240816171033/https://carnegieendowment.org/research/2018/08/the-activist-legacy-of-taiwans-sunflower-movement?lang=en&center=global |url-status=live }}</ref> the latter of which resulted in the first DPP legislative majority in Taiwanese history.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chow|first=Jermyn|title=Historic change as KMT loses long-held Parliament majority|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/historic-change-as-kmt-loses-long-held-parliament-majority|newspaper=The Straits Times|date=17 January 2016|access-date=1 November 2022|archive-date=1 November 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221101173134/https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/historic-change-as-kmt-loses-long-held-parliament-majority|url-status=live}}</ref>
In January 2024, [[Lai Ching-te|William Lai Ching-te]] of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party won Taiwan's [[2024 Taiwanese presidential election|presidential elections]].<ref>{{cite news |title=Photos: Taiwan holds closely watched presidential and parliamentary polls |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/1/13/taiwan-votes-in-closely-watched-presidential-and-parliamentary-elections |work=Al Jazeera |language=en |access-date=15 January 2024 |archive-date=15 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115103631/https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/1/13/taiwan-votes-in-closely-watched-presidential-and-parliamentary-elections |url-status=live }}</ref> However, no party won a majority in the simultaneous Taiwan's [[2024 Taiwanese legislative election|legislative election]] for the first time since 2004, meaning 51 seats for the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), 52 seats for the Kuomintang (KMT), and the [[Taiwan People's Party]] (TPP) secured eight seats.<ref>{{cite news |title=No party gets majority in Legislature; KMT wins most seats – Focus Taiwan |url=https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202401130014 |work=Focus Taiwan – CNA English News |date=13 January 2024 |access-date=15 January 2024 |archive-date=4 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240204163716/https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202401130014 |url-status=live }}</ref>