Since the Chinese Reds drove his armies from the mainland, Chiang Kai-shek and his Nationalists have conscientiously tried to assume the trappings of liberal democracy. In Formosa the Nationalists paid new heed to China's 1946 constitution, which guarantees citizens a free press, free speech and free elections. They set up two "opposition" parties, whose candidates are sometimes allowed to beat out those of Chiang Kai-shek's ruling Kuomintang. But somehow, the vast majority of elective jobs are always won by the Kuomintang, and the opposition parties are careful not to oppose so vigorously as to endanger their Kuomintang subsidies.
The Lighthouse...