Constitutional Change in Taiwan
Provocation or Democratic Consolidation?

Since Taiwan’s President Chen Shui-bian’s 2004 pledge to pursue constitutional revision, Chinese commentators have warned that Chen will manipulate the process to achieve de jure independence from the mainland, a step it says would lead to war. Despite Beijing’s saber rattling, constitutional reform on Taiwan has been a central part of the island’s twenty years’ evolution from authoritarianism to democracy. What are the current parameters of debate on constitutional revision in Taipei? Will political polarization in Taiwan prevent consensus on the next step in changing the constitution? What are the American interests in an issue that may open the next cross-Strait rift? On January 22, AEI will hold a half-day conference to discuss these and other questions relating to the prospects for constitutional change in Taiwan.

About the Author

 

Dan
Blumenthal
  • Dan Blumenthal is a current commissioner and former vice chairman of the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission, where he directs efforts to monitor, investigate, and provide recommendations on the national security implications of the economic relationship between the two countries. Previously, he was senior director for China, Taiwan, and Mongolia in the Secretary of Defense's Office of International Security Affairs and practiced law in New York prior to his government service. At AEI, in addition to his work on the national security implications of U.S.-Sino relations, he coordinates the Tocqueville on China project, which examines the underlying civic culture of post-Mao China. Mr. Blumenthal also contributes to AEI's Asian Outlook series and is a research associate with the National Asia Research Program.
  • Phone: 202-862-5861
    Email: dblumenthal@aei.org
  • Assistant Info

    Name: Lara Crouch
    Phone: 202-862-7160
    Email: lara.crouch@aei.org

 

Gary J.
Schmitt
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