Background:
In 1895, military defeat forced China to cede Taiwan to Japan. It
reverted to Chinese control after World War II. Following the
Communist victory on the mainland in 1949, 2 million Nationalists
fled to Taiwan and established a government using the 1947
constitution drawn up for all of China. Over the next five decades,
the ruling authorities gradually democratized and incorporated the
native population within the governing structure. In 2000, Taiwan
underwent its first peaceful transfer of power from the Nationalist
to the Democratic Progressive Party. Throughout this period, the
island prospered and became one of East Asia's economic "Tigers."
The dominant political issues continue to be the relationship
between Taiwan and China - specifically the question of eventual
unification - as well as domestic political and economic reform.