Book Description
Taiwan's export-led industrial development is often presented as a model of how state intervention promotes growth. Others see the same experience as a model of a private enterprise market at work. This study demonstrates that Taiwan policymakers varied their approach to development as circumstances changed. Export promotion of labor-intensive industries, which predominated in the 1960s, was supplemented by efforts to promote import-substituting heavy industries in the 1970s. In the early 1980s there was a fundamental change in the economic environment as Taiwan's government reduced its active intervention in the economy and created a foundation for development based on information and other high-technology products. Taiwan's economy continued to prosper in the 1990s because policies and systems changed along with conditions. ... Read more

Product Description
Completely updated and revised for this new edition, our unique electronic book on two CD-ROMs has an amazing collection of the finest federal documents and resources about Taiwan, providing encyclopedic coverage of all aspects of the country. This disc set provides a truly fantastic reference source, with over one hundred thousand pages reproduced in Adobe Acrobat format! There is complete coverage of newsworthy material about Taiwan, including trade and doing business with Taiwan, Chiang Kai-Shek, 1958 Taiwan Straits Crisis, Taiwan Relations Act, Earthquakes in Taiwan, Tourism and Taiwan.This incredible and comprehensive series on the countries of the world contains material from the State Department, Department of Defense, White House, and cabinet agencies including Agriculture, Energy, and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.There is complete information about geography, people, government, the economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues.In addition to the nation-specific material, as a bonus we have included reports about every country on the globe, with 271 nations, dependent areas, and other entities identified by the Central Intelligence Agency. The CIA World Factbook is considered an invaluable "world encyclopedia" reference book.This incredible two CD-ROM set is packed with over 141,000 pages reproduced using Adobe Acrobat PDF software - allowing direct viewing on Windows and Macintosh systems. The Acrobat cataloging technology adds enormous value and uncommon functionality to this impressive collection of government documents and material.Our news and educational discs are privately compiled collections of official public domain U.S. government files and documents - they are not produced by the federal government. They are designed to provide a convenient user-friendly reference work, utilizing the benefits of the Adobe Acrobat format to uniformly present thousands of pages that can be rapidly reviewed, searched by finding specific words, or printed without untold hours of tedious research and downloading. Vast archives of important public domain government information that might otherwise remain inaccessible are available for instant review no matter where you are. This book-on-a-disc format makes a great reference work and educational tool. There is no other reference that is as fast, convenient, comprehensive, thoroughly researched, and portable - everything you need to know, from the federal sources you trust. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Weekly Standard, published by Thomson Gale on December 4, 2006. The length of the article is 1918 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Tear Gas and Running Dogs; The scandal-rocked government of Taiwan.(corruption in purchase of military equipment from United States)
Author: David DeVoss
Publication: The Weekly Standard (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 4, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 12Issue: 12Page: NA

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Book Description
This digital document is an article from Public Personnel Management, published by Thomson Gale on September 22, 2005. The length of the article is 7275 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

From the author: According to reports on international competitiveness prepared by the Swiss-based International Institute for Management Development (IMD), since the year 2000, Taiwan has posted a less-than-ideal government efficiency ranking. While Taiwan was ranked 14 in 2000, that dropped to 24 in 2002 and had only improved to 18 by the end of 2004. As a country subject to intense competitive pressure, Taiwan is now fully committed to the processes of governmental reform that are sweeping the world.

Citation Details
Title: Government reform and human resources--the Taiwan experience delivered at the IPMA-HR thirtieth international symposium in Budapest, Hungary.(Government reforms in Taiwan)
Author: Chia-Cheng Lin
Publication: Public Personnel Management (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 34Issue: 3Page: 215(19)

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This digital document is an article from ASEAN Economic Bulletin, published by Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) on December 1, 2000. The length of the article is 970 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Taiwan's Development Experience: Lessons on Roles of Government and Market.(Review) (book review)
Author: Liu Yunhua
Publication: ASEAN Economic Bulletin (Refereed)
Date: December 1, 2000
Publisher: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS)
Volume: 17Issue: 3Page: 349

Article Type: Book Review

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Customer Reviews (6)

An excellent survey of Taiwan's history
This is one of the most complete books on Taiwan and its history available in the English language.The reading is dense in places and is highly academic, but for anyone who has a background in Taiwan's history and wants to get in depth, this would the volume for you.

Beginning from Taiwan's physical environment, other specialists focus on aboriginal Taiwan, the encroachment of the Minnan people, from the Dutch and Cheng to incorporation by the Ching Dynasty.The late ninteenth century receives some coverage in depth.There is also a frank assessment of the Japanese occupation years.

About half of the book is devoted to post- World War II Taiwan. Political, religious, modernization and other topics of modern Taiwan are discussed in depth.Unfortunately, due to the dating of the book, recent democratic developments are not covered (the book stops shortly following President Lee Tung Hui's popular election as President).However, for anyone interested in developing a deeper understanding of Taiwan, other than actually living here, this book is one of the best options available.

For the novice on Taiwan, I recommend reading Denny Roy's "Taiwan:A Political History first."It is an excellent read and not as dense as this work.

poorly written; no organization or structure
This book was a major disappointment.Each chapter is written by a different person; the book is really just a collection of dry academic articles slapped together, with no organizing structure.The alleged editor is also one of the contributing authors, and it doesn't appear that he did much editing at all.The overall quality of the book is substandard, with amateurish and badly printed black and white photographs taken by the editor.

Worst of all, judging by the first two selections, the writing is pretty awful.Here's a sample of the obtuse academic style you will find in this volume:
"The Chinese hegemonic project of making Taiwanese aborigines part of the Chinese nation was incompatible with the developing counterhegemonic aboriginal project of affirming their distinct identity and political rights as indigenous people."(page 37)
Hard to believe that such a passage could have been written by a native English speaker, much less that it actually got published!

Instead of this volume, I recommend Denny Roy's book, which is quite well-written.

Taiwan-A new History
A must have book for Taiwan research.

The Editor/Author's Response
This is a response to Denny Roy's review. Prof. Roy is indeed a rival of sorts having recently written a political history of Taiwan that may soon be published. He and a number of others find my definition of history--or rather my broad conception of history--troubling but I will stand by it. I have called on the resources of the best people I know in the subfield of Taiwan studies and they have produced admirably researched and written chapters. The book is designed as a comprehensive single volume work that provides an introduction to Taiwan and all facets of its history. Thus literature, religion, geography, ethnography, and culture are included in the mix. Some scholars such as Prof Roy and Prof. John Copper among them are are more focused on politics but there is more to history than politics in this new and decidedly multi-cultural and post modern world. One person's comprehensiveness is another's choppiness but so be it. I think the book is well integrated and the individual authors have worked through, in good measure, the themes spelled out in the introduction. One other important point The political struggles KMT-dangwai of the 1970s and 1980s, struggles I saw first hand on Taiwan are dealt with within the context of the matrix of events and are part of a large scale political narrative. They are not however the only subject of this long chapter. In other books I have focused on this period and its actors such as Lu Hsiu-lien as well as the Presbyterian Church but this was not the time for such detail. Pro. Roys own focus on the modern period is well done indeed but then he writes a formal "poltical" history, while I do not. One final point: What I find annoying is the tone of the review at certain points, particularly the comments on the concluding section. I think they work and they sum up the book and its major themes.

I invite others who know the book such as Alan Wachman and other Taiwan hands or China hands as well as journalist and members of the public to add their voices to this discussion of a book that many recognize as an invaluable work for scholar and lay reader alike.

A hodgepoge of uneven quality
There are few recent books that attempt to cover all of Taiwan's history, making Rubinstein's effort valuable and appreciated.I found parts of it useful in writing my own book on Taiwan's history (yes, let's acknowledge that this reviewer has a potential conflict of interest).Almost all edited books, however, suffer from the difficulty of achieving unity and thoroughness while avoiding repetition with the ensemble cast of authors with their own styles and interests.Rubinstein's book is no exception.I found chapters 4 through 8, 10 and 11 excellent history.Other periods, however, were not so well covered.I found it astounding that the book does not include a chapter on the political opposition's successful campaign to force the KMT government to begin to liberalize in the 1980s, an extremely important period in Taiwan's history.Yet the book throws in chapters on Taiwan's geography, religion and literature.Rather than a "history," the book is really an assemblage of chapters on history, political science, geography, economics, and humanities--different layers made of clay, plastic and metal, with no attempt to integrate them.This book is better understood, perhaps, as a Taiwan reader.I must also mention that Rubinstein's writing at the end of the book is uncharacteristically poor and rough, as if he rushed through it to meet a deadline.Overall: worthwhile, but does not fulfill its promise.(If my book gets published, I'll be bracing for Rubinstein's retaliation.) ... Read more

Book Description
For centuries, various great powers have both exploited and benefited Taiwan, their designs for this island frequently clashing with the desire of local inhabitants to control their own destiny. Such conflicts have shaped Taiwan's multiple, and frequently contradictory, identities. Denny Roy contends that Taiwan's political history is best understood as a continuous struggle for security. Eschewing the usual emphasis on the high politics of the recent era, he offers a comprehensive narrative of the island's political history from the first Chinese settlements to the Chen Shui-bian presidency. Roy covers the political system constructed by the KMT during the Cold War, the opposition breakthrough, the presidency of Lee Teng-hui, and the DPP presidentialvictory in March 2000.

Roy's approach allows him to integrate his understanding of Taiwan's domestic politics with its foreign affairs—particularly the relations with mainland China. He reveals how the interplay between political forces within and the influence of foreign countries from without has shaped Taiwan. His is a balanced account, incorporating up-to-date coverage and presenting many indigenous voices. Taiwan: A Political History illuminates the origins of the island's often-troubled domestic and international political situation. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

decent, but a bit dull
the book prevents the basic facts, but lacks analytical depth. a good intro nonetheless for beginners. for a more detailed approach, check out "The Generalissimo's Son" though that book as well is not too engaging theoretically or analytically.

A good introduction to Taiwan's history
As the title of my review implies, this is a valuable volume for the person who is interested in developing an understanding of the complex forces that shape Taiwan today.

Roy takes up Taiwan's history from the beginnings of Chinese settlement of the island and the Japanese Occupation.However, the bulk of the book focuses on Post-World War II Taiwan.While it focuses on the political history of the country, other aspects are not ignored.My main criticism is that although this purports to be a political history, the main criticism of the legitimacy (or lack thereof) of "Chinese" sovereignty (regarding the so-called Post WWII transfer to China) over the country is ignored.Save for that ommission, this is a servicable summary of modern Taiwan political history.

I would recommend this book for someone wishing to learn a little about Taiwan before coming to the country.For a person wishing to engage in an in depth study of the country, this would be a good volume to start with.However, if you already have a basic understanding of the major forces shaping this country (particularly post-World War II,) I would advise passing this work by for more in depth works on the subject.

A very interesting book about Taiwan history
I was born in Taiwan and completed my college education in Taiwan. The Chinese history text books focus on the story of the mainland China. I have not known too much about Taiwan. For some reasons my grandparents and parents did not talk too much about it either.

This book opens my eyes and I could not stop reading it. Even though the book is very comprehensive some of the information the author got is either manipulated, biased or missing. It is far from perfect. There is a lot of truth about Taiwan to be explored. For example Koxinga was given the credit of defeating Dutch and then occupied Formosa. But he lived
only 4 monthes after defeating the Dutch. He was a pirate and very brutal. He excuted his new born grandchild and grandchild's mother. He is more like a refugee than a hero. The main reason he came to Taiwan is he was escaping from Qing dynasty's attack.

Because of Taiwan's democracy a lot of information are more readily available and people does not afraid of being talking about the past I believe the author might want to update this
book soon.

"Even-handed, thorough, and accurate"
Review by Prof. Shelley Rigger, the top U.S. scholar on Taiwan, in TOPICS magazine, May 2003: "Nowhere else will readers find such an even-handed, thorough, and accurate account of Taiwan's recent history. What is more, the book is a pleasure to read, balancing rich historical details and anecdotes with thoughtful analysis. Roy's book provides the most complete and in-depth account of Taiwan's post-World War II political development available in English. However, much of the value of the book comes from his determination to situate the island's postwar history in the context of Taiwan's pre-war experience. As a result, Roy is able to offer satisfying answers to some of the most puzzling issues facing students of contemporary Taiwan, including islanders' complicated feelings toward Japan, China--even Taiwan itself."

Useful introduction to the various ethnic groups in Taiwan
As a member of the Hakka folks born in Taiwan (now living in the U.S.), I greatly appreciated the detailed explanations of the various ethnic groups in Taiwan.Sometimes it takes a Western writer to provide objective unbiased account of Taiwanese history and Denny Roy did just that.
The book at times was a little dry to read, almost like reading a textbook.But overall, I enjoyed reading this book which contains history not taught during my 8 years ofelementary/junior high school education in Taiwan.An eye opener! ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Canada and the World Backgrounder, published by Taylor Publishing Consultants Ltd. on January 1, 1996. The length of the article is 775 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Will the real China please stand up? (Beijing has been increasingly recognized as the seat of government in China over Taipei, Taiwan)
Author: John King
Publication: Canada and the World Backgrounder (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 1996
Publisher: Taylor Publishing Consultants Ltd.
Volume: v61Issue: n4Page: p26(2)

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Book Description
This concise account of Taiwan's history makes a cogent, compelling argument for the right of the Taiwanese people to declare their nation independent, if they so choose. Davison's bold stand--unprecedented from a Western author--challenges the "one China" notion advanced in the Shanghai Communique of 1972 and states unequivocally that, should independence be proclaimed, it could only be taken away by force if the international community sides with contemporary might over historical right. He argues that the possible conflict could be sufficiently incendiary to induce a major military clash between the United States, the People's Republic of China, and other major powers. Davison lets the facts of Taiwanese history make the case for Taiwan's existence as a unique national entity. A historical overview details the circumstances under which the Qing dynasty made its 17th century claim on the island, the events that led to cession to Japan in 1895, the origins of the Guomindang occupation during the Chinese Civil War, and the dramatic election of March 2000 that brought the Democratic Progressive Party's Chen Shuibian to office, ending Guomindang domination. After centuries of outsider domination, and over a hundred years of disconnection from any government exercising power over all of mainland China, the Taiwanese people are in a position to make a decision for national independence based on solid historical evidence. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Go for Copper's Taiwan first
I'm still new to the small field of English historical writing to Taiwan: so far I've only read this book and _Taiwan: Nation-state or Province?_ by John Copper. I have to say, Copper is clearly the more mature researcher and the superior writer. Copper's work, similar in length, scope, and purpose to Davison's (not to mention cheaper!), is based on a much more complete bibliography, a longer experience among Taiwan researchers in Washington, and despite the title, a clearer argument for Taiwan's historical and cultural independence from China.

Much of Davison's book is a summary of history texts used in Taiwan - authors Qi Jialin, Zhou Mingfeng, and Huang Dashou are mentioned particularly often. Thus, if you wish to start investigating history books about Taiwan written in Taiwan, Davison's book offers a kind of introduction. But for a purely general introduction, I can't really say there is anything in Davison I could not have gotten from Copper if I had read that one first. ... Read more

Book Description
The Son of Taiwan is the first book written by Chen Shui-Bian, Taiwan's current president. Chen, the former mayor of Taipei and second directly elected president of Taiwan, maps out his vision for the future, his approach for defusing tensions between Taiwan and mainland China, and his program for leading Taiwan to establish a society revitalized with fresh confidence, trust, and faith.As mayor of Taipei, he proved he could put words into action, transforming Taipei from an ugly duckling into one of Asia's most livable cities.Now, as the 10th president of Taiwan (Republic of China), Chen is intent on applying his proven formula for the revitalization of Taiwan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great book, highly recommended
Chen Shui-Bian is the new leader of Asia, he is young (50 years old) compared to all other old Asian leader.He is a modern Cinderella story, a must read for those who wants to understand Asia. ... Read more

Book Description
This digital document is an article from Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs, published by Thomson Gale on July 1, 2006. The length of the article is 9840 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Taiwan: recent developments and U.S. policy choices.(CRS Report for Congress: Received through the CRS Web)
Author: Kerry Dumbaugh
Publication: Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs (Report)
Date: July 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA

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Book Description
Basic information on foreign and domestic policy, national security, political system, parties and elections, government and administrative structure. Participation in international organizations, treaties and regional unions.International and foreign policy and more. ... Read more

Product Description
A well-known observer of Taiwan and Asian history and culture provides an insightful biography of Lee Teng Hui, the pro-democracy statesman and former president of the Republic of China. As head of the Taiwanese government from 1988 to 2000, Lee managed, without violence or major civil unrest, to reform the authoritarian state into a constitutional democracy with a multi-party political system. This examination of Lee's success puts to rest the idea that Asian values support only authoritarian regimes and reject human rights and political democracy in favor of economic success and military power.

Richard C. Kagan describes in rich detail Lee's struggle to reinvent Taiwan s culture and political system by advocating an independent sovereign nation with universal values of human rights, democracy, freedom, and economic justice. His book offers new insights into the role Lee played in the still volatile Taiwan Strait crisis and how Lee's diplomatic skills used the crisis to break free of the "One China" straitjacket of the Shanghai Communiqué of 1972 while avoiding open warfare with the People's Republic of China. The author argues that Taiwan is a vital part of America's national security interests in Asia and that the loss of Taiwan to Mainland China would seriously damage American economic and military power in Asia. He calls Lee's life a beacon for people looking for new ways to promote democracy and sovereignty and intends this biography of Lee's life to highlight the statesman s significant contributions, until now little known or misunderstood in the United States and Europe.

Customer Reviews (2)

A fascinating case study
In 1988 a man who had studied Zen and lived in the U.S and Japan came to power in Taiwan and began to shake up the island's politics.Lee Teng Hui was a master politician of the first class.His understanding of democracy led him to victory over the Koumintang, which had preserved Taiwan's independence but had also become dicatorial.The surprising thoguths of this world class leader should be studied by many.A true man of the people who understood the importance of democracy and the security of Taiwan.This obscure subject is a fascinating read.

Seth J. Frantzman

Excellent, insightful, and useful work
Taiwan's Statesman: Lee Teng-hui and Democracy in Asia
Richard C. Kagan
Naval Institute Press, 2007, 231p

In an oft-quoted passage, the ancient Roman biographer, Plutarch once explained his philosophy thus: "in the most illustrious deeds there is not always a manifestation of virtue or vice, nay, a slight thing like a phrase or a jest often makes a greater revelation of character than battles when thousands fall, or the greatest armaments, or sieges of cities." Richard Kagan's rich new work, Taiwan's Statesman: Lee Teng-hui and Democracy in Asia, which examines the life of one of the great statesmen of the 20th century, Taiwan's Lee Teng-hui, elevates Plutarch's approach to a entire framework for understanding the life and thought of Taiwan's first democratically elected President. Kagan illuminates Lee's often cryptic and elusive use of words, and supplies a robust account of the origins and development of his personal approach to life and politics.

Kagan opens with Lee's moment of triumph: the 1996 Presidential election, Taiwan's first direct presidential election. A native Taiwanese, Lee had successfully risen through the ranks of a Kuomingtang (KMT) party dominated by post-1949 exiles from China, out-maneuvered a rear-guard fight to preserve the authoritarian dominance of the KMT, and defeated the rising pro-democracy party at the polls. How did the son of a humble Taiwanese policeman accomplish these feats?

The answer, according to Kagan, lies in the experiences and values that have shaped Lee Teng-hui's personality: his sojourns in Japan and the US, his study of Zen, his conversion of Christianity in 1961, and his study of agricultural economics. These influences have created in Lee a character and understanding of great depth and flexibility. "If one painted Lee's idea of democracy, it would not hang in a picture frame," describes Kagan. "Rather, it would be splashed all over the neighborhood in expressions of creativity, chaos, and unpredictability with strings of entanglements and loose threads."

Kagan begins his discussion of Lee's education, dismissing the pro-China criticisms that Lee is half-Japanese for the far more elegant and fruitful exploration of what being Japanese means for Lee. This meant education in a Japanese high school at a time when few Taiwanese were permitted to enter Japanese educational institutions; then a year at Kyoto Technical School (later Kyoto University) before entering the Japanese Army in 1944. In Japan he was deeply influenced by the writings of Nitobe Inazo and Nishida Kitaro. Nitobe was a philosopher and statesman who was also an agricultural specialist - a career that "could be a template for Lee's own." Lee also found the Zen thinker D.T. Suzuki to be a refuge from the militarism that was then sweeping the empire. In addition to encountering Japanese thinkers, Lee read voluminously among western classics in translation, developing an especial fondness for Thomas Carlyle. According to Kagan, Carlyle put words to Lee's feeling that true heroism created a new world order, driven by the energetic, questing spirit. Finally, Lee's Christianity is also treated as an important shaper of Lee's social action (for years, whenever possible, he gave humble sermons in local churches on Sundays even as a high ranking politician). Kagan returns to these resources again and again in explaining Lee's cryptic, contradictory, utterances and his freewheeling, apparently aimless, yet purposeful behavior.

Thus, this is not a critical biography in the sense that it attempts to separate itself from the moral world of the subject it treats and to exhaustively examine what many might argue are key controversies or episodes in Lee's career. Kagan's reading of Lee's life is extremely sympathetic, and may be open to charges of hagiography. He is seldom directly critical of Lee's actions, often explaining what some might see mere political horse-trading as evidence of Lee's greatness. For example, Lee's support of mainlander Ma Ying-jeou for Taipei mayor in 1998 is presented as a demonstration of Lee's success in "breaking through the ethnic, geographical, and political division between mainlanders and Taiwanese" - yet Kagan never discusses Lee's controversial removal of that same Ma Ying-jeou from his post as Minister of Justice, a move that critics have slammed ever since as a sop to the political corruption on which they allege Lee depended. However, as Kagan points out, many of these controversies have been treated elsewhere in great detail.

Despite its weaknesses and its resolutely pro-Lee point of view -unlike many commentators on Lee Kagan is commendably up front in staking out his position on the historical importance of Lee's life and career - this is a rich, entertaining, and educational work. The sections on Lee's upbringing and early life are absolutely fascinating - Lee's service in the Japanese army took him to both Taiwan, where he fired anti-aircraft guns against US attackers, and to Japan, where he helped clean up after the horrific Tokyo firebombing of March, 1945. Kagan hits his stride in his portrayal of Lee's foreign and domestic policy in the 1990s, a period offering many of the same themes that we see today: the President of Taiwan being labeled "provocative" and "a troublemaker" for attempting to break out of the constrictions placed on Taiwan by the US and China. It was Lee himself carried out the first phases of the removal of the Chiang family cult from public life, a fact often lost in the current debates. Kagan also faithfully reconstructs both the headiness of the post martial law period, with its future full of promise, and its fragility, under threat by hardliners in the KMT bent on suppressing the rising democratic feeling. Finally, Kagan sheds much light on the combination of relationships, luck, and achievement that brought Lee safely through the ranks of the KMT to deliver him to the Presidency at a critical moment in the nation's history, and on his relationship with President Chiang Ching-kuo, who in certain respects was much like Lee.

Looking back on Lee's career, it seems incredible that Lee, who hung with a cabal of independence firebrands at Cornell, including Peter Huang, would-be assassin of Chiang Ching-kuo during his 1970 visit to the US, and David Tsai, prominent in US-based Taiwanese exile group World United Formosans for Independence, escaped imprisonment and execution. It also seems incredible, at least to this reader, that anyone who bothered to look into Lee's background could ever imagine that Lee would be an obedient servant of the KMT fantasy that Taiwan belongs to China. Yet during the early 1990s rumors swirled at home and abroad on precisely these points, a major tribute to the master politician that is Lee Teng-hui: Lee had sold out to black gold, Lee was a secret independence supporter, Lee was a Machiavellian power-monger, Lee was a KMT spy. As Kagan's biography of one of the greatest statesmen of the twentieth century so firmly demonstrates, they were all true, and they were not true at all. ... Read more