ISSN number: 1605-9433, International online edition

Taiwan Communiqué presents a close-up view of Taiwan's democratization process of the 1980s and 1990s. It shows how the democratic opposition movement, first the tangwai ("outside-the-party") and later the DPP, played a crucial role in achieving democracy in Taiwan. The (then) ruling Kuomintang had to be pushed every step of the way, and only grudgingly went along when change was inevitable.

Since the early 1990s we have focused on Taiwan's quest for membership in the international family of nations as a full and equal member, and China's military threat and intimidation against the democratic island.

After President Tsai Ing-wen's election victory in January 2016, we felt that our lifelong dream of full democracy in Taiwan had been achieved, and decided -- after publishing the Communiqu� for 35 years -- to retire. The publication in its current form is being discontinued after issue no. 155, but many others are continuing the fight for a free and democratic future for Taiwan.

In the Spring and Summer of 2020, we were able to scan in the predecessor of the Taiwan Communiqu�, the Newsletter of the International Committee for Human Rights in Taiwan (ICHRT), which we published from the Summer of 1979 through the end of 1980. It covers the run-up to the Kaohsiung Incident of December 1979, the trials of the Kaohsiung Incident defendants in the Spring of 1980, the treatment of people in prison, and international reactions, particularly in the US Congress.