Taiwan is in a period of political transition, as President Chen Shui-bian’s electoral victory is being contested within Taiwan’s judicial system. A second Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration has significant implications for force modernization and budget issues, as well as for defense reform, strategy, and U.S.-Taiwan defense relations.
Under normal circumstances, Chen’s election to a second term would have given the President more confidence to press the DPP’s defense agenda, which was first articulated in the party’s defense white paper issued in November 1999. However, allegations of DPP improprieties by the KMT/People’s First Party (PFP) coalition – collectively known as “Pan-Blue” – the narrow margin of victory, and the failure of the two referenda could hinder progress on a range of fronts, at least for the initial few months into Chen’s second term.
Executive Summary: Taiwan Defense & Security Report – Q1, 2004