Wednesday, Aug, 25, 2011
THEN
On Aug. 25, 1912, the Revolutionary Alliance and four other political parties join together in Beijing to form a nationalist party, the Kuomintang (KMT). Dr. Sun Yat-sen, already president of the newly formed Republic of China, is elected as chairman of the new party. When revolution sweeps the country in October 1911, the new Republic of China forms and the last Qing emperor abdicates the throne. The Kuomintang struggles to govern China’s vast territory over the next 30 years, attempting to fend off a Japanese invasion in the north as well as a growing communist presence. Besieged by Chinese Communists and unable to hold China together, in 1949 the KMT flees to Taiwan.
NOW
Today the KMT again governs the Republic of China (known more commonly as Taiwan) but is now one party in a multiparty democracy. The KMT regained power in 2008 with current President Ma Ying-jeou’s 2008 victory. The KMT now holds a 70-plus percent majority of the elected seats in the legislative branch, the Legislative Yuan. After eight years of rule by Taiwan’s indigenous and often anti-reunification Democratic Progressive Party, the KMT regained power in 2008 and immediately started a thaw in the icy relations with Beijing. Today the KMT governs a Taiwan that has closer ties to mainland China than ever. During the first 11 months of 2010 Taiwan hosted nearly 2 million tourists from the mainland; the new flood of tourists means business opportunities for Taiwanese as well as foreign exchange of US$3 billion. Thawed relations have brought business from the mainland, including significant orders for Taiwanese goods and foodstuff.
