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Since the beginning of Taiwan's democratization in the late 1980s, identities on the island have fundamentally changed. Then, most citizens of the Republic of China (ROC), Taiwan's official name, considered themselves as Chinese, and only a minority considered themselves as Taiwanese. The latter segment of the society was concentrated in and around the newly formed and legalized opposition group, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Today, the situation has reversed: fewer than 5 percent of ROC citizens regard themselves as Chinese, between 60 and 70 percent see themselves as Taiwanese, and the rest claim a double identity, both Taiwanese and Chinese.

Nachdem die bisherige Oppositionspartei Kuomintang (KMT) bei den Parlamentswahlen im Januar 2008 bereits zwei Drittel der Sitze gewonnen hatte, wurde nun ihr Kandidat Ma Ying-jeou mit deutlichem Vorsprung zum neuen Präsidenten Taiwans gewählt. Mit seinem Amtsantritt am 20. Mai 2008 verbindet sich die Hoffnung auf eine Phase der Entspannung im Verhältnis zur Volksrepublik China. Für Ma wird es nicht leicht werden, die vielfältigen Erwartungen - der eigenen Bevölkerung, seiner Partei, Pekings und wichtiger internationaler Akteure - zu erfüllen. Rasche erste Erfolge wird er nur erzielen können, wenn vor allem Peking bereit ist, die Gelegenheit zu einer Verbesserung der Beziehungen zu nutzen und auf die neue Regierung zuzugehen

During the Ma Ying-jeou presidency in Taiwan (2008–2016), confrontations over relations with mainland China stressed the country's institutions, leading to a political crisis. Nevertheless, its democracy proved to be resilient. The authors of Dynamics of Democracy in Taiwan explore key aspects of the complicated Ma era, including party politics and elections, the sources of Ma's governance challenges, changing public opinion, protest movements, and shifts in the regional balance of power

Resumo: este artigo tem como objetivo analisar os aspectos político-diplomáticos e econômicos das relações entre Taiwan e seus aliados na América Central durante os oito anos de presidência de Ma Ying-jeou (2008-2016), o líder do Partido Nacionalista. Nesse período, uma "trégua diplomática" foi acordada e observada tanto pela China quanto por Taiwan. A tregua também contribuiu com três idéias para entender melhor as interações das nações centro-americanas com seu parceiro asiático. Uma é que esses laços não são autônomos e se tornaram apenas outra variável das relações através do Estreito de Taiwan. Uma segunda é que o aumento do comércio com a China, devido ao processo de globalização, coloca mais pressão sobre os laços com Taiwan. A terceira é que, dado o atual "congelamento" das trocas entre Taipei e Pequim, é possível o reinício de uma disputa diplomática para o reconhecimento de Taiwan como país.Palavras-chave: China. Taiwan. Trégua diplomática. América Central. Ma Ying-jeou.

Since his election as Taiwan's president in 2008, Ma Ying-jeou has embarked on an active policy of rapprochement with China, leading to the signing of a string of economic and technical agreements with Beijing that have further liberalised and normalised cross-strait economic relations. But the way this rapprochement has been conducted, coupled with the economic crisis that has struck Taiwan for most of the first two years of Ma's administration and a series of missteps and mismanagements by the president and the Kuomintang (KMT) government, have generated a crisis of confidence and widespread discontent among the Taiwanese. This has resulted in consistently low approval ratings and several setbacks in regional and by-elections in 2009 and 2010, as well as the resurgence of a reformed opposition under the leadership of Tsai Ing-wen. The discrepancy between Ma's increasingly apparent Chinese nationalism and the Taiwan-centred national identity of the majority is further indication of a significant disconnect between the KMT administration and the Taiwanese mainstream. (China Perspect/GIGA)

In January 2008, Taiwan's opposition party Kuomintang (KMT) won a two-thirds majority in the elections for the Legislative Yuan, the parliament in Taiwan. On March 22, the candidate of this party, Ma Ying-jeou, was elected president of Taiwan by a margin of almost 20 per cent. There is widespread hope that his inauguration on 20 May 2008 will be the beginning of a phase of improved relations with mainland China. It will not be easy for Ma, however, to fulfil the manifold and often contradictory expectations-of the Taiwanese population, his own party, Beijing and important international partners. He will only be able to make progress in the short run if Beijing is willing to use this window of opportunity for improving cross-Strait relations by reaching out to the new government