From taking over the presidency on Jan. 13, 1988, to peacefully handing over political power, Lee Teng-hui, (
By the time he took over the presidency, Taiwan was in urgent need of change and had long been suppressed by authority. As well, there were problems in national identity, the split of territory and increasing isolation in the international community. Lee decided to push for democratic reform, with help from opposition parties, to dissolve the authoritarian system. He abolished martial law and undertook several constitutional amendments to implement direct elections for lawmakers, Taipei and Kaohsiung mayors,Taiwan provincial governor, and president. And finally he completed the first democratic transfer of a regime in Chinese history.
While Taiwan was undergoing democratization, in order to prolong the KMT's administrative power, Lee, compromised with corruption. He allowed "black gold" politics to damage the nation's growing democracy and this planted the seeds for the KMT's defeat in the presidential election. The reform track of the sixth amendment to the Constitution was twisted.
He abolished the original temporary articles of the Constitution and replaced them with supplement and amendment systems. He gradually changed the Constitution to a one-chamber system that is closer to a presidential system. The repeated amendments to the Constitution seriously damaged the solemnity of the national legal system and the seriousness of constitutional reform hastened the collapse of social values.
In foreign affairs, Lee aggressively pushed "practical diplomacy (
But it has also triggered Beijing's opposition. During President Lee's tenure, the two sides of the Strait restored communication, which was terminated following the civil war in 1949, and established systematic negotiations. Based on the Guidelines for National Unification, (
Democratization has increasingly made Taiwan establish a clearly different consciousness from that of China. Although Lee never called it a Taiwanese national movement, he strongly defended Taiwanese sovereignty. As a result, when facing pressure from China, he usually used a hard-handed strategy and had small Taiwan bully big China. His visit there forced the US government to make more efforts to restore the relationship between the US and China, and finally US President Bill Clinton announced his "three nos" statements.
In order to defend Taiwan's sovereignty and to reopen the political negotiations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, Lee mentioned the "special state-to-state relationship (
Lee is a mortal who has good sides and bad sides. He wanted to create a modern democratic country. Nevertheless, he failed to maintain the quality of that democracy, to improve the KMT, and to remain aware the public's hatred of "black gold" politics. He was born with charisma, but he gradually became lost in his self-confidence. Power inflated his ego and drew him from the mainstream of society. Lee finally was brought down by the people and the time.
Overall, Lee's achievements outnumber his errors. Although he should shoulder responsibility for "black gold politics," fortunately, Taiwan's democracy has already established a system that can clean up its politics. Retrospect, with its perfect vision, will see him in a fair light sooner or later.
Chang Hui-ying is a senior journalist for the China Times.
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