Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Lee Teng-hui announces the end of the 'Period of National Mobilization for the Suppression of
the Communist Rebellion.' This formally ends the state of war between the ROC and PRC.
1992-93
In the Koo-Wang Talks, representatives from the ROC and PRC meet to discuss cross-Strait re-
lations. From this arises the '92 Consensus in which each side claims the right to interpret One
China in their own way.
1996
Lee Teng-hui is re-elected in Taiwan's first fully democratic presidential election, winning 54%
of the vote in a three-way race.
1999
Taiwan is hit by a massive earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale. Centred in Nantou
County, the quake causes massive damage, and thousands of deaths throughout the island.
1999
Lee Teng-hui declares to a German reporter that after his government amended the constitu-
tion in 1991, Taiwan and China now have a special state-to-state relationship.
2000
Former Taipei Mayor Chen Shui-bian is elected ROC president, winning 39.3% of the popular
vote in a three-way race, ending over 50 years of Kuomintang (KMT) rule in Taiwan.
2000
In an early sign of thawing relations between Taiwan and China, the 'Three Small Links' com-
mence, opening limited trade between China and the Taiwanese-held islands of Kinmen and
Matsu.
2004
Chen Shui-bian is re-elected by the slimmest of margins; the day before the election both pres-
ident and vice-president are mildly wounded by the same bullet in a botched assassination at-
tempt.
2005
China enacts an 'anti-secession law, formalising its commitment to use military force if Taiwan
declares independence. Protests against the law draw huge crowds around Taiwan.
