Lee Teng-hui

Third Taiwan Strait crisis escalates

📅 21 July 1995

The PRC launched missile tests near Taiwan during a period of political tension ahead of Taiwan’s first direct presidential election. The crisis brought US carrier deployments and exposed the risk...

Wild Lily student movement begins in Taiwan

📅 16 March 1990

Nine students began a sit-in at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, demanding political reform and an end to the entrenched “ten-thousand-year” legislature. The six-day protest helped press Taiwan’s...

Taiwan holds its first direct presidential election

📅 23 March 1996

Voters elected Taiwan’s president directly for the first time, choosing Lee Teng-hui. The election consolidated democratic legitimacy rooted in Taiwan’s electorate and took place amid military...