Geopolitical challenges to the democratisation development in Taiwan

This chapter discusses the issues influencing the development of democratisation in Taiwan through the perspective of geopolitics. The author holds the view that the demonstration of Taiwan's democratisation is the result from the stimulations of both external and internal environment changes. The former one is from the competition of great powers in hegemonic system, and the latter one is from the domestic demands in view of maintaining its survival. Democracy started to take its root in Taiwan after the Second World War, especially during the Cold War era. Due to its crucial geopolitical location, Taiwan has been one of the important partners in the democratic camp, or the so-called "free world", and the choosing to be a democratic state has been the main efforts for Taiwan in promoting its international relations. Taiwan's participation in international organizations, such as the United Nations, will also be examined as cases study in this Chapter.