ABSTRACT
Friday 22 March 1996 was a night of celebration in Taipei, Taiwan. Thousands jammed parks and public squares for huge rallies, then spilled into the streets for impromptu midnight marches. The warm, humid night had a carnival feeling. Vendors sold souvenirs of every description —from commemorative plates to videotapes of other political rallies. The scents of Taiwan’s favorite street foods-sausages, oyster omelets and tofumixed with the odors of traffic and sewage and incense that permeate Taipei’s crowded neighborhoods. What seemingly had drawn all of Taipei’s citizens out of their homes was not a holiday, but the final night of campaigning before the island’s first-ever direct, popular presidential election. The giant block party was a celebration of democracy, a celebration barely dimmed by Beijing’s missile tests just off the Taiwan coast.
