ABSTRACT
The Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) victory in Taiwan's second direct presidential election in 2000 was widely acclaimed as a democratic milestone. It was the first instance of a Chinese society experiencing a change in ruling parties through a democratic election. Election rhetoric meant that the public had unrealistically high expectations of the new administration. There was an initial honeymoon period in which the president received high support levels and faced a relatively uncritical media. 1 Even within the Kuomintang (KMT), many saw the positive side of losing power, as the party embarked on its most ambitious programme of party reforms since the 1950s. 2 In short, there was a great deal of optimism at the outset of the DPP era.
