Monday, February 28, Taiwan celebrates a painful seventy-fifth anniversary: that day, in 1947, a riot broke out in Taipei. The day before, agents from the Tobacco Monopoly Office arrested a seller of contraband cigarettes, and killed one of the passers-by who intervened in her defense.
This is the straw that broke the camel’s back for a hard-hit Taiwanese population. Japanese colonization lasted fifty years, until the capitulation of the Empire in 1945. The return of the Chinese “mother country”, initially seen with a good eye by the islanders, turns into a great disappointment: the government of the Kuomintang – the Chinese nationalist party – turns out to be corrupt, the mainlanders monopolize the positions of power, the state monopolies control the economy, inflation is out of control. At school, only Mandarin is allowed.
The days following February 28, 1947, the insurgency spread throughout the territory. It will be repressed in blood: l’incident 228 will cause 10,000 to 20,000 deaths, as well as the imprisonment without trial of anyone who may be related to a political opponent.
The pressure mounted a notch in 1949, when the Communists seized power in Beijing and the nationalists of Chiang Kai-shek fled to Taiwan. Anxious to consolidate their power, the latter impose martial law, which will remain in force for nearly forty years, until 1987. The repression extends to exiles from mainland China, among whom communist sympathies are tracked down. At least 140,000 people will fill the prisons and 3,000 to 4,000 will lose their lives during this period, called “White Terror”.
Despite this heavy past, Taiwan has just won eighth place au Democracy Index 2021 published by the British press group The Economist. Only northern European countries and New Zealand do better than the archipelago, which has become a “full democracy” last year according to the same classification.
Taiwan is sailing backwards from the rest of the world, where democracy is struggling, the report says: “Less than half (45.7%) of the world’s population now lives in a democracy, which represents a significant decline since 2020 (49.4%).” In question, in particular, the return of authoritarian regimes in several countries, and the Covid-19 pandemic. Only twenty-one left “complete democracies” on the planet, two less than last year. France, “failing democracy”is not one of them.
A very pragmatic democratization
How could a country like Taiwan, which held its first presidential election in 1996, become exemplary in such a short time?
To find the answers, it is interesting to delve into the writings dating from this period, such as those of Shirley Rigger, professor of political science at Davidson College (United States). “Although many forces and conditions contribute to democratic development, one step is indispensable: a decision on the part of political elites to accept democratic institutions”she notes in her book Politics in Taiwan: Voting for Reform (which dates from 1999).
The Kuomintang did not democratize Taiwan through a sudden burst of virtue, nor out of consistency.
It is indeed the dictatorial party itself, the Kuomintang, which operated the democratic transition. This was done first under the impetus of Chiang Kai-shek’s son, Chiang Ching-kuo, who became Prime Minister in 1972 then President in 1978. Before lifting martial law, he tolerated the birth of a party of opposition, the Democratic Progressive Party (PDP), and promoted the participation of native Taiwanese in politics.
In a strong gesture in this direction, he appointed one of them, Lee Teng-hui, to succeed him – which happened in 1988. Far from the violent repression of the demonstrations of the past, he lent an attentive ear to a student movement demanding further democratic reforms in 1990. The first-ever presidential election, which confirmed Lee Teng-hui in power, followed in 1996.
However, the Kuomintang did not democratize Taiwan through a sudden outburst of virtue, nor out of consistency – liberal democracy is one of the “Three Principles of the People” enacted by its founder Sun Yat-sen. The militancy of citizens who have reached the middle class thanks to the Taiwanese economic miracle has a lot to do with it… but also the pragmatism of the party.
Indeed, in 1971, Taiwan lost China’s seat in the UN to the People’s Republic. The Kuomintang realizes that its greatest challenge is no longer “the reconquest of the continent, which was no longer a realistic long-term goal, but to survive”, explains Shirley Rigger. It will therefore seek to perpetuate itself on Taiwanese soil (hence the integration of natives in circles of power) and to send a positive image to the international community… for example, by organizing elections.
Since then, power has alternated between the Kuomintang and the Democratic Progressive Party, all without a hitch, which proves the solidity of Taiwanese democracy. Women have also integrated into political life: they form 42.5% of the current parliament (39.5% in France), Asian record.
Fading guardrails?
Protection of civil liberties is also robust in Taiwan according to Freedom Housean American NGO which studies the state of democracy in the world, and which gives a score of 94 out of 100 to the archipelago. In 2019, it became the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage.
Making it possible to distinguish itself from China, liberal democracy even imposes itself as an identity marker of the former Formosa, if we are to believe the survey results recent Taiwanese Democracy Foundation: 75.3% of respondents consider it to be the best political system. Confidence is even stronger among young people, and “this is one of the main differences between Taiwan and older democracies”according to Eric Chen-hua Yu, a researcher at the National Chengchi University Center for Election Studies.
China is also trying to interfere in Taiwanese affairs through disinformation.
Enough to face the challenges to come, because Taiwanese democracy is far from perfect. Thus, Freedom House notes that corruption has not been totally eliminated, since “political and commercial interests are closely linked”. The right to strike is strongly regulated, and certain professional groups (such as teachers or civil servants) are even deprived of it. The 700,000 migrant workers, who are not entitled to the minimum wage and paid holidays, risk being exploited. As for the natives (2% of the population), they still suffer from discrimination.
“Taiwanese media are unquestionably free, but their political polarization, sensationalism and profit motive limit their ability to provide unbiased information,” note for his part Reporters Without Bordersadding that “this weakness is exploited by China, which exerts pressure on Taiwanese press owners – these have for most important commercial interests on the continent”. Most emblematic case: that of the group Want Wantwhose media are regularly accused of adopting a pro-Chinese editorial line.
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China is also trying to interfere in Taiwanese affairs through disinformation. During the 2020 election campaign, many fake accounts appeared to relay messages opposed to the outgoing president, Tsai Ing-wen – and therefore favorable to the Kuomintang, which pleads for a rapprochement with Beijing. Missed this time: the PDP independence candidate was reelected hands downwith 57% of the vote.
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