ABSTRACT
The March 18, 2000 election of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shuibian brought to an end over half a century of Guomindang (KMT) rule of Taiwan. This watershed event is a tribute to this island nation’s remarkable process of economic liberalization and political democratization over the past 40 years. While tribute should be given to the opposition, the election victory has much more to do with processes occurring within the KMT itself, particularly the problems that have emerged out of the party’s active involvement in the corporate sector. One of the most challenging aspects of post-KMT Taiwan will be to sort out the entangling threads of state, party and even private interests that in the past were largely fused.
