TAIWAN'S SECOND MIRACLE

AFTER 4,000 YEARS, THE CHINESE FOR THE FIRST TIME DIRECTLY ELECT A PRESIDENT

IN 1949 WHEN MAO ZEDONG'S COMMUnist forces pushed Chiang Kai-shek's regime off mainland China and drove it to Taiwan, few expected the resource-poor province to thrive. Nevertheless, in its new home, the Republic of China has become one of East Asia's "economic miracles," with a per capita GNP today of $12,500. Even that transformation, though, is less startling than Taiwan's political revolution, culminating last Saturday in the presidential election. Voters ignored missile rattling from the mainland and gave current President Lee Teng-hui a strong mandate. He won 54% of the vote, more than twice that of his nearest rival. It was...

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