Assessing the Lee Teng-hui Legacy in Taiwan's Politics: Democratic Consolidation and External Relations (review)

During the 1990s, the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC) became increasingly prominent in world politics for two very different reasons. First, the ROC's rapid and peaceful democratization caused it to become much more positively perceived throughout the developed and democratized world. Second, the periodic eruptions of international crises concerning the claim of sovereignty by the People's Republic of China (PRC) over Taiwan brought forth fears both that the safety of Taiwan's democratic polity was threatened and, at least in some quarters, that Taiwan was needlessly provoking China. This era, of course, is represented by the presidency of Lee Teng-hui in the ROC. Thus, Assessing the Lee Teng-hui Legacy in Taiwan's Politics treats a topic that should be of substantial interest to scholars, policy makers, and the attentive public since it includes important discussions of the theory of democratization, the internal dynamics of Taiwan's politics, and what is now the dominant issue in Sino-American relations.

Bruce Dickson and Chien-min Chao have assembled an eminent group of leading scholars from both Taiwan and the United States to analyze the administration of Lee Teng-hui. Their efforts are commendable for a variety of reasons. The essays are of a uniformly high quality (which is rare in edited collections like this one). Insightful analyses are presented of both Lee's strengths and his weaknesses, as well as of the very different interpretations held by his supporters and detractors. Many of the chapters contain novel and innovative conceptualizations that should make them of interest to academic specialists and general readers alike. Overall, the book contains a very sophisticated analysis of Taiwan's domestic politics and of the challenge for cross-Strait relations.

The Introduction by Chien-min Chao and Bruce J. Dickson presents an overall evaluation of the Lee administration that is highly sophisticated and well balanced. Lee Teng-hui, it is almost universally acknowledged, played a vital role in leading Taiwan's final transition to democracy with the 1990 National Affairs Conference, which brought together leaders from across the political spectrum and represented an inspired strategy for breaking the gridlock over political reform within the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) Party. Likewise, Taiwan's strong economic performance during the Lee era testifies to over a decade of successful economic management. The resulting tremendous popularity of Lee undoubtedly was a major reason that the KMT was able to retain power, unlike most authoritarian regimes in other countries, after Taiwan's transition to democracy and popular rule. On the other hand, Lee is also widely criticized for unnecessarily provoking a hostile PRC, becoming a headstrong leader whose personal hostilities helped fracture the KMT, and permitting (if not encouraging) the growth of massive corruption, or "black and gold politics" in the language of contemporary Taiwan politics. In addition to these generally accepted positive and negative components of the Lee legacy, the former president's supporters and opponents have their own polar images of him. Supporters praise him as the "father of Taiwan," who is responsible for transforming the island and achieving "ethnic justice," while opponents stridently denounce him for sowing ethnic hatred between Islanders and mainlanders and for destroying the Kuomintang.

Ramon H. Myers, Linda Chao, and Tai-chun Kuo argue that Lee was highly successful in overcoming substantial opposition within the KMT to lead Taiwan's democratic transition during his first administration with such signal accomplishments as implementing direct elections for the national legislature and chief executive, legitimating political opposition and democratic competition, and promoting ethnic reconciliation over the "February 28" repression and its accompanying bloodshed. During his second administration, on the other hand, his strong leadership became more arbitrary and resulted in ineffective constitutional change, massive corruption, and unnecessary confrontation with the PRC. Consequently, he ultimately threatened the consolidation of the democracy in whose...