There has been unabated progress toward greater democracy and liberalization throughout Taiwan during the past year—and the current transformation of society and politics was set in motion by the late President's wise foresight and powerful leadership.
As part of its commemoration of the late President and his legacy to the people, the Free China Review asked Dr. Phillip Chen, director of the Asia and World Institute in Taipei, to reflect upon the man and his work. His essay follows.
Late President Chiang Ching-kuo was highly respected by all who knew him, and was correctly regarded as the cardinal practitioner of political democracy in the Republic of China on Taiwan. He was devoted to the fervent belief that freedom, democracy, and social justice must be realized for all Chinese people. And greatness of vision was matched with a common touch, one that made him popular both with foreigners, who frequently referred to him as CCK, and with locals, who called him Mr. Ching-kuo, an appellation he encouraged people to use.
Throughout his lifetime Mr. Ching-kuo faced constant ordeals, even until his very last days when, despite being confined to a wheelchair, he performed his duties to country and party by honoring his commitments to the Republic without complaint or lessening of enthusiasm. Even though the Western media often took the rather cynical view that he had simply inherited his office and power from the late President Chiang Kai-shek, facts quickly rectify that ill-informed view. For the late President was familiar indeed with the grassroots as much as the highest echelons of political power.
Before reaching the Republic's highest office, he traveled a long and often arduous path through the levels of political service. Thus, his political leadership was naturally articulated, and his power base rested upon a foundation of great public popularity because of his rich experience in dealing with the common man as much as the complexities of the body politic.
That experience was linked with vision and the will to carry out long-range plans. For example, he recognized that since Taiwan was a less developed country in the 1960s, and was predominantly rural with a relatively low per capita income, it would have to industrialize in order to succeed in the decades ahead. At that time, Taiwan's industrialization was barely underway, and plans for the most part remained but aspirations. While the central structure of government was modern in form and authoritarian in function, there was still a wide gap existing between the traditional masses and the Western-educated elite.
Yet Mr. Ching-kuo had a vision of what could be accomplished—and a firm knowledge of the hard-working capabilities of the people, from grassroots to the top levels of government. He thus firmly led the people in building a feasible and workable social and economic infrastructure. The result was a historic transformation of society, one that moved from traditional to modern form, and from an agrarian to an industrial base.
At a time when others were less confident about the future of Taiwan, or were concentrating upon other aspects of government policy and program administration, Mr. Ching-kuo took a broader view—one that was to prove eminently sagacious because it laid the groundwork for Taiwan's economic miracle. He placed the Ten Major Construction Projects as top priority for government action, namely: the North Link Railroad, the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Freeway, railroad electrification, the international airport, the Taichung Port, the Suao Harbor, an integrated steel mill, the Kaohsiung Shipyard, a petrochemical complex, and a nuclear power plant. It was he who mapped out and embarked on the Ten Projects plan in 1973. And it was he who personally supervised the projects until their completion in 1980. Mr. Ching-kuo also saw that these projects were interrelated with other social and economic development projects essential for modernization.
In line with this thinking, Mr. Ching-kuo requested larger shares of the national budget for education because he saw the need for an educated populace in the march toward modernization. His reasoning was simple and direct: improvement of the lives of all citizens requires an increase in national productivity; a significant increase in labor productivity requires technology and management; and this in turn requires a better-educated work force. Education thus became the master key to social change and political development on the island.
On May 20, 1984, President Chiang Ching-kuo began his second six-year term of office. He selected Dr. Lee Teng-hui to be vice president and to succeed the presidency if he himself proved unable to serve the full term. His decision was consistent with another of his priorities, again pursued with unwavering will: the "indigenization" or "Taiwanization" of the ruling party and highest levels of government. Mr. Ching-kuo rose above traditional provincial and regional distinctions common in Chinese history to emphasize that the Republic of China on Taiwan was a creative mix of all Chinese, with place of origin clearly secondary to the challenges of building a viable, stable, and equitable society.
Based upon this vision, the island entered a period of political liberalization that would have seemed almost impossible only a few years before. Such was the force of his will and grandness of his conception that the momentum of liberalization has continued unabated despite his untimely passing.
The record is already impressive. In 1986 the government did not interfere with the formation of a new and vocal opposition party. President Chiang Ching-kuo personally declared on October 7 during an interview with Katherine Graham of the Washington Post that his government would soon propose lifting the Emergency Decree, commonly referred to as martial law. The decision was in line with his longstanding desire to "democratize" as well as to improve economic conditions on Taiwan.
Despite its importance, the decision to end martial law and allow the formation of new political parties was in some ways not as significant as it appeared to foreigners, for it was not a radical change of direction or political evolution. If a period of martial law is interpreted as political instability, curfews, and other restrictions on the movement of citizens, along with a special function for the military, then martial law in this extreme sense had not existed in Taiwan for some time. Nevertheless, the formal lifting of martial law proves that the Republic of China on Taiwan has now developed and transformed from an authoritarian political system into one much more democratic.
It was Mr. Ching-kuo who confidently and forcefully moved the nation from economic growth with political stability to social and political democratization. Years from now, 1987 will likely be seen as a watershed in the history of the Republic of China on Taiwan. Change became the rule rather than the exception, whether in politics, social affairs, or the economy. The continuing pace of change has astonished long-time observers, who now must constantly re-evaluate the impacts and implications of Taiwan's dynamic transformation.
The most dramatic developments continue in the all-important area of Taiwan's relations with mainland China. Although officials in Taipei maintained firmly that there had been no changes in the "Three No's" policy—no negotiations, no contacts, and no compromise with Peking—the late President saw that Taiwan must by all means relax the tension between both sides of the Straits. This wisdom was linked with action. Mr. Ching-kuo selected Mr. Lee Huan, the number two man in the ruling party (the KMT) and his most trusted political protégé, to carry on the highly skillful policy towards mainland China after his departure.
Again, it was Mr. Ching-kuo who had the foresight to realize that the government should not rush the reunification issue nor should it isolate the island by claiming an independent status. He saw that mainland China under Communist rule would inevitably be confronted with chaotic changes and would eventually split into a multipolarity of systems. His intelligent advice to all the people of Taiwan was that they ought to unite in common cause, work hard, maintain dignity internationally, and prevent national instability. That this is happening today is an indication of everyone's respect for the memory of a great man and a mark of his effective leadership.