30-Second Overview: On December 10, 1979, Chen Chu, aged 29, was dragged into a police car amidst tear gas smoke on the streets of Kaohsiung. She wrote a suicide note in prison, believing she would be executed. Forty years later, she became the President of the Control Yuan, the head of Taiwan's highest government oversight body. Taiwan's democratization was not a switch, but an experiment that took forty years: moving from the world's longest martial law (38 years and 56 days) to becoming one of Asia's most free democratic nations (Freedom House 2025 score of 93/100, ranked 6th globally). It happened without a bloody revolution or a military coup.
On March 18, 1980, the Formosa Incident trial began in a Taiwan military court. Seated in the defendant's dock were Shi Ming-de, Huang Hsin-chieh, Chen Chu, and Lu Hsiu-lien; the gallery was packed with international journalists, and U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy entered Shi Ming-de's case into the Congressional Record.
The Kuomintang (KMT) originally intended to hold a public trial to demonstrate judicial legitimacy. The result was counterproductive.
The trial provided the defendants with a national stage. Shi Ming-de had prepared a 60,000-word defense statement, but after the trial began, he learned that Lin Yi-hsiung's mother and twin daughters had been murdered outside the prison (the Lin Family Blood Case). He abandoned his defense on the spot and instead demanded the judge sentence him to death. This image spread across the island via the media.
📝 Curator's Note: The most absurd consequence of the grand Formosa trial was that the young lawyers defending the defendants—Chen Shui-bian, Hsieh Chang-ting, Su Tseng-chang, Chang Chun-hsiung, and Yu Ching—almost all became President, Premier, or Mayor of a special municipality within twenty years. The KMT's carefully planned trial inadvertently cultivated an entire generation of political elites for the opposition movement.
Zheng Nanrong's Seventy-One Days
In the decade following the Formosa trial, Taiwanese society was like a pot of slowly heating water. The Non-Partisan League continued to expand, but what truly pushed the temperature to the boiling point was a Han Chinese from outside Taiwan named Zheng Nanrong.
On December 10, 1988, International Human Rights Day, Zheng Nanrong published the full text of a "Draft Constitution of the Republic of Taiwan" in the 254th issue of his edited weekly, Freedom Era. At the time, this constituted the crime of rebellion, punishable by death.
After receiving a court summons, Zheng Nanrong locked himself in the magazine office and refused to appear in court. He spoke his final words to his wife, Ye Ju-lan:
"The rest is up to you."
At 7:30 AM on April 7, 1989, nearly 200 police officers surrounded the magazine office. At 9:15 AM, Zheng Nanrong died by self-immolation at the age of 41. The back cover of his magazine forever bore the same phrase: "Strive for 100% Freedom of Speech!"
On May 19, tens of thousands of people followed his coffin toward the Presidential Office in the rain.
📝 Curator's Note: The commander of the SWAT team leading the raid on the magazine office was Hou Yu-ih. Thirty-five years later, in 2024, he ran for President on behalf of the KMT. The same person stood on the side of state violence in one of the most tragic moments of Taiwan's democratization, yet ran for the highest office within a democratic system. This fact itself is the absurdity and complexity of Taiwan's history.
Zheng Nanrong's death directly led to the amendment of Article 100 of the Criminal Code in 1992 and the abolition of the "Suppression of Rebellion Regulations." From then on, thought was no longer a crime. April 7 was later designated as "Freedom of Speech Day."
Martial Law Lifting: Not a Switch
On July 14, 1987, 75-year-old Chiang Ching-kuo held a press conference at the Presidential Office, announcing that martial law would be lifted at midnight the next day. Twelve days later, on July 27, he invited twelve local elders to the Presidential Office for tea and said a quote that would be repeatedly cited later:
"I have lived in Taiwan for forty years; I am a Taiwanese, and therefore also a Chinese."
This quote was later selectively cited across different political spectrums. Independence supporters took only the first half, while unificationists emphasized the second half. But in the context of 1987, its function was to bridge provincial conflicts: a Han Chinese strongman acknowledging himself as a Taiwanese, attempting to cool tensions in the face of impending political opening.
Chiang Ching-kuo passed away six months later.
But lifting martial law did not equal freedom. The government simultaneously passed the "National Security Law," Article 9 of which stipulated that judgments by military tribunals against civilians during the martial law period "shall not be appealed or protested to the competent court." In other words, victims of the White Terror were legally blocked from relief channels.
"Some scholars therefore argue that the true starting point of Taiwan's democratization is 1992 (amendment of Article 100 of the Criminal Code, abolition of the 'Suppression of Rebellion Regulations'), rather than the lifting of martial law in 1987."
This is why some who experienced martial law did not remember July 15 as a day of ecstasy, but rather of bewilderment: Parades were allowed, but who dared to parade? Parties could be formed, but would you be arrested if you did? Democracy is not a light that turns on with the flip of a switch; it requires an entire society to relearn "how not to be afraid."
Six Thousand Wild Lilies vs. Tiananmen
On March 16, 1990, less than nine months after the Tiananmen Incident, National Taiwan University students began a sit-in at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Square. The cause was that Lee Teng-hui was to be re-elected President, but the National Assembly voting for him was still the "Ten-Thousand-Year Congress" elected in 1947 in mainland China, consisting of over 700 un-re-elected old representatives.
The students' banner read: "Fellow countrymen, can you endure the oppression of 700 emperors?"
Starting with a dozen people, the number grew to nearly 6,000 within six days. Holding wild lilies (symbolizing the pure, native flower of Taiwan), they presented four demands: dissolve the National Assembly, abolish the Temporary Provisions, convene a National Affairs Conference, and establish a reform timeline.
On March 21, Lee Teng-hui met with fifty student representatives at the Presidential Office.
This was the mirror-image ending of Tiananmen. Nine months prior, students in Beijing received tanks; students in Taipei received the President's promise. Lee Teng-hui later said he had ordered "no harm to students" (quoting an ETtoday 2015 report).
The promises were fulfilled one by one: The Temporary Provisions were abolished in May 1991, and the Ten-Thousand-Year Congress dissolved in December of the same year; the Legislative Yuan was fully re-elected in 1992; on March 23, 1996, Taiwan held its first direct presidential election.
📝 Curator's Note: The life trajectories of the Wild Lily Student Movement leaders themselves constitute a history of Taiwanese politics: Fan Yun became a DPP legislator, Lin Chia-lung became Foreign Minister, Luo Wen-chia became a key DPP figure, and Cheng Wen-tsan became Mayor of Taoyuan. This student movement not only changed the system but also defined the political personality of an entire generation.
Voting Under Missiles
In March 1996, on the eve of Taiwan's first direct presidential election, China test-fired missiles 20 miles off Keelung and 29 miles off Kaohsiung, paralyzing 70% of commercial shipping passing through these two ports. The PLA simultaneously gathered 100,000 troops along the coast.
Beijing's intent was clear: to deter Taiwanese voters from voting for Lee Teng-hui.
The U.S. response was to dispatch two aircraft carrier battle groups, the Nimitz and the Independence—the largest U.S. military deployment in the Pacific since the Vietnam War.
On March 23, the voter turnout was 76.04%. Lee Teng-hui won 5,813,699 votes, with a vote share of 54%. China's missiles did not deter voters; instead, they may have pulled an additional 5% of votes for Lee Teng-hui, turning what was originally a relative majority into an absolute majority.
Beijing's carefully planned intimidation produced the exact result it least wanted to see.
| Item | Data |
|---|---|
| Election Day | March 23, 1996 |
| Voter Turnout | 76.04% |
| Lee Teng-hui Vote Share | 54.00% (5,813,699 votes) |
| Peng Ming-min (DPP) | 21.12% |
| Lin Yang-kang | 14.90% |
| Chen Lü-an | 9.98% |
Three Rotations: The Character of Losers
What truly tests democracy is not the election, but "whether the loser is willing to leave."
2000: Chen Shui-bian was elected with 39.3% of the vote, ending 55 years of KMT rule. This was the first time in a Chinese-speaking society that power was peacefully transferred through ballots. The KMT's split was key: Song Chu-yu ran as an independent candidate taking 37% of the vote, while Lien Chan only received 23%.
2008: Ma Ying-jeou defeated Hsieh Chang-ting with 58.45%. The DPP peacefully handed over power, proving that "admitting defeat" is not a KMT specialty.
2016: Tsai Ing-wen defeated Chu Li-lun with 56.12%. The KMT peacefully stepped down again.
2024: Lai Ching-te was elected with 40.05%. The DPP governed for the first time without an absolute majority, while the legislature was controlled by the opposition. The democratic system underwent another stress test.
Four party rotations over thirty years, all completed peacefully. No military coups, no refusal to hand over power, no violent protests.
Why No Bloodshed?
Eastern European revolutions overthrew communist parties, the Arab Spring sparked civil wars, and the Myanmar military government brutally suppressed dissent. Why did Taiwan achieve a "Nirvana Revolution"?
Political scientist Samuel Huntington classified Taiwan in The Third Wave as "transformation," an elite-led, top-down democratization, distinct from South Korea's "transplacement" or the Philippines' "replacement."
But behind the elites' choice to reform were structural reasons:
The Economic Miracle created a middle class. Between 1960 and 1990, Taiwan's per capita GDP skyrocketed from $164 to $8,111. The middle class had too much to lose; they wanted reform, not revolution.
Diplomatic isolation forced the regime to seek legitimacy. Expulsion from the UN (1971), severing of ties with the U.S. (1979), and removal from the International Olympic Committee. The KMT could no longer use "Retaking the Mainland" as a justification for rule; it had to build a foundation of public opinion within Taiwan.
Self-restraint by the opposition. The Formosa figures and the DPP chose institutional reform over violent struggle at critical moments. The Philippines' People Power Revolution (1986 EDSA Revolution) proved that peaceful power transfer was possible, sending a crucial signal to Taiwan's reformists.
An Imperfect Democracy
Freedom House gave Taiwan a score of 93 out of 100 in 2025, ranking 6th globally and 2nd in Asia (behind Japan's 96). The Economist Democracy Index ranked Taiwan 12th globally in 2024, scoring a perfect 10 in Electoral Process and Pluralism, making it the only "Full Democracy" country in Asia.
But behind the numbers lie cracks:
During the White Terror period, an estimated 140,000 to 200,000 people were politically persecuted, and 3,000 to 4,000 were executed. Transitional justice remains incomplete. Article 9 of the National Security Law was not declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court until 2019, 32 years after the lifting of martial law.
Fake news is the new battlefield. Large-scale fake news operations appeared in the 2018 local elections and the 2020 presidential election, many of which traced back to overseas sources. The Chinese government continues to attempt to influence Taiwan's policy-making, media, and democratic infrastructure (quoting the Freedom House 2025 report).
Blue-Green polarization has lowered the quality of policy discussions. Important bills are often shelved or forced through based on partisan stances rather than policy merits.
Taiwan's democracy is imperfect. But it is alive.
Chen Chu's Suicide Note
In December 1979, 29-year-old Chen Chu wrote a suicide note in prison, preparing to be executed. In the note, she bid farewell to the people of Taiwan.
She was not executed. She served six years in prison, helped found the DPP upon her release, served two terms as Mayor of Taipei's Social Affairs Bureau, served as Minister of the Council of Labor Affairs, and served as Mayor of Kaohsiung for twelve years. In 2014, she won re-election with 990,000 votes, the highest in the country. In 2020, she was nominated as President of the Control Yuan.
From writing a suicide note to becoming President of the Control Yuan took forty-one years.
The same person, on the same island. The difference lies in this: In 1979, thought was a crime; in 2020, the political prisoner of that year was supervising whether the government was committing crimes.
This is what democratization means. Not a smooth inspirational story, but a political experiment full of absurdity, contradictions, and costs. The experiment is still ongoing.
References
- Central News Agency: Shi Ming-de imprisoned for political black牢s for over 25 years (Primary Source)
- National Human Rights Museum: Chen Chu (Primary Source)
- Wikipedia: Zheng Nanrong
- Wikipedia: 1996 Republic of China Presidential Election
- Freedom House: Taiwan Freedom in the World 2025 (Primary Source)
- The Economist Democracy Index 2024 (Primary Source)
- Story Studio: The Trial on March 18, 1980 That Changed Taiwan
- Taiwan Truth and Reconciliation Commission: Article 9 of the National Security Law
- ETtoday: Lee Teng-hui Ordered No Harm to Students
- Washington Post: China Fails to Sway Election in Taiwan (1996) (English)
- Samuel Huntington, _The Third Wave_, University of Oklahoma Press, 1991 (English, Academic)
Related Topics
- Martial Law Period: 38 years of authoritarian rule before democratization
- Taiwan White Terror: History of 140,000 people politically persecuted
- February 28 Incident: The starting point of post-war Taiwan's political trauma
- Taiwan Elections and Party Politics: Evolution of the electoral system after democratization