HONG KONG -- Although Taiwan's lat est constitutional reforms preclude any declaration of formal independence for the foreseeable future, they do strengthen Taiwan's democratic development.
The latest changes were ushered in as the National Assembly of the Republic of China on Taiwan was elected one last time May 14 and then voted out of existence June 7. Formed under the 1947 ROC Constitution, the Assembly had dutifully given Chiang Kai-shek the veneer of legitimacy for decades by regularly re-electing him ROC president.
Once Chiang's son and successor Chiang Ching-kuo initiated profound changes in the texture of Taiwan politics, the National Assembly switched roles -- from sustaining authoritarianism to gradually introducing democracy. Under then-Kuomintang chairman and Taiwan President Lee Teng-hui during the 1990s, the National Assembly passed six successive rounds of reform amendments to the 1947 Constitution. The most important was in 1996 -- the election of the head of government by universal suffrage.