The human rights record in Taiwan is generally held to have experienced significant transformation over the last two decades.
Taiwan, currently governed by the Republic of China government, has a multi-party democracy. The 2000 presidential victory of Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) candidate Chen Shui-bian followed more than 50 years of rule by the Kuomintang (KMT) and marked the first transition from one political party to another in the Taiwanese history, reported by a Government Information Office (GIO) website as the "first ever in Chinese history." This followed gradual democratic reforms since the 1980s and 1990s; most notably, martial law was lifted in 1987, and the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion were repealed in 1991.
The citizens in Taiwan can change their government through elections and are held to enjoy most basic rights, according to a 2004 Freedom House report. Freedom House rates Taiwan as among the most "Free" nations in Asia, with a 2 in Political Rights and a 1 in Civil Liberties (scale of 1-7, with 1 being the highest). This represents a significant improvement, as the 1973 rating was 6.5, rising to 2.1 by 2000. For much of the history of the Kuomintang(KMT) regime on Taiwan, from the retreat from the mainland in 1949 until the 1970s and 80s, the state was highly autocratic and varying degrees of repression of political and civil rights existed.
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