TIMELINE: Taiwan's road to democracy
(Reuters) - Taiwan voters pick a new president on March 22, choosing between Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party and Ma Ying-jeou of the Nationalist Party
(KMT).
The vote is only the fourth contested presidential poll since the island of 23 million people embraced democracy in the mid-1980s.
Here are some milestones in the self-ruled island's path to democratization.
* February 1947: A Taipei street dispute over the state cigarette monopoly flares into a chain of protests against Nationalist Party rule from China.
* 1949: Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek flees to Taiwan with about 2 million supporters to escape the advancing Communist army in China. Washington continues to recognize Chiang's Republic of China government in Taipei, not the Beijing-based People's Republic of China.
* 1972: U.S. President Richard Nixon signs the Shanghai Joint Communique with the People's Republic of China, declaring that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of it.
* 1978: Chiang Kai-shek's son, Chiang Ching-kuo, is chosen to be president three years after his father's death in 1975.
* 1979: Beijing and Washington establish diplomatic relations. Later that year, President Jimmy Carter signs the Taiwan Relations Act, allowing informal relations to continue between the United States and Taiwan.
* 1984: Chiang Ching-kuo is re-elected and begins democratization of the political system.
* 1986: Dissidents form the Democratic Progressive Party.
* 1987: Chiang Ching-kuo lifts martial law after 38 years, the world's longest period of continuous military rule.
* 1988: Chiang Ching-kuo dies. His designated successor, Lee Teng-hui, is sworn in as president in May 1990.
* 1994: First direct elections for governor of Taiwan province and mayors of Taipei and Kaohsiung cities.
* 1996: Lee wins more than 50 percent of the votes in Taiwan's first direct presidential election.
* 2000: More than 50 years of Nationalist Party rule end as the DPP's Chen Shui-bian is elected president. The DPP adopts a hard line against China, advocating formal independence.
* 2004: Chen survives an apparent assassination attempt to win re-election by a 0.2 percent margin. Taiwan holds its first referendum in conjunction with the presidential elections, which fails to get the required 50 percent of voter participation.
* 2006: Chen cedes some of his powers, including control of the cabinet, to the premier, as corruption allegations involving his family swirl.
* January 2008: The Nationalists win a landslide victory in parliamentary elections. Chen, who is barred from running for president again by a two-term rule, steps down as DPP chairman.
* March 22, 2008: Taiwan to elect president and vice president.
Source: Reuters
(Writing by Gillian Murdoch, Singapore Editorial Reference Unit; Editing by David Fogarty)
