TAIWAN: Timeline: Taiwan

A chronology of key events in the new millenium:

2000 March - Chen Shui-bian wins presidential elections, ending the Nationalist (Kuomintang) Party's 50-year monopoly of power.

2000 May - Chen Shui-bian says in his inaugural speech that he will not declare independence as long as China does not attack. He says he won't call for a referendum on independence, nor abolish Taipei's official blueprint for an eventual reunion with mainland China.

China responds by accusing him of insincerity, and by saying he had evaded the key question of whether he considered Taiwan part of China.

2000 August - President Chen Shui-bian stops over briefly in the United States before starting a two-week tour of Central America and Africa. He gets no official welcome.

2000 October - Government halts work on the construction of a nuclear power plant, sparking a major political row. It argues that the facility - approved and started under the previous government - would not be a safe source of energy.

2000 October - Chang Chun-hsiung sworn in as prime minister. He replaces Tang Fei, from the main opposition Nationalist Party, who stepped down amid disputes with President Chen, over issues including the scrapping of the nuclear plant.

2001 April - The exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, meets President Chen during a visit which draws strong opposition from China.

2001 April - US says it will go ahead with sales of submarines, warships and anti-submarine aircraft, but not the requested naval combat radar system Aegis. China protests and President George W Bush pledges to help Taiwan should China invade.

Sabre-rattling

2001 June - Taiwan test-fires Patriot anti-missile defence system bought from US, as China carries out military exercises simulating invasion of island.

2001 November - Taipei lifts a 50-year ban on direct trade and investment with China.

2001 December - Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) party loses its parliamentary majority for the first time.

2002 January - Taiwan officially enters the World Trade Organisation, only a few weeks after China.

2003 May - Dramatic rise in cases of the pneumonia-like Sars virus.

2003 July - Taiwan is the final country to be removed from the WHO's list of countries which were badly affected by the Sars virus.

2003 November - Taiwan unveils the 508-metre Taipei 101 building, which it says is the world's tallest.

2003 November - Parliament approves bill to allow referendum on declaring independence should China attack. Referendums on sovereignty and changing country's name are not sanctioned.

Second term for Chen

2004 March - President Chen Shui-bian wins a second term by a slender margin. His win follows an apparent assassination attempt against him on the eve of elections.

2004 November - Court rejects opposition challenge that President Chen Shui-bian won March's presidential election unfairly.

2005 January - Aircraft chartered for the Lunar New Year holiday make the first direct flights between Taiwan and China since 1949.

2005 March - Taiwan condemns a new Chinese law giving Beijing the legal right to use force should Taipei declare formal independence.

2005 April - National Party (KMT) leader Lien Chan visits China for the first meeting between Nationalist and Communist Party leaders since 1949.

2005 June - Reform requiring future constitutional amendments to be put to a referendum arouses China's concern that it will be easier for activists to promote moves towards independence.

2005 July - National Party (KMT) elects mayor of Taipei Ma Ying Jeou as its new leader.

President under pressure

2005 December - Opposition KMT triumphs in municipal elections. The result is interpreted as a mid-term vote of no confidence in President Chen Shui-bian.

2006 February - Taiwan scraps the National Unification Council, a body set up to deal with reunification with the mainland. China says the decision could bring "disaster".

2006 June - Under pressure over corruption allegations against a family member, President Chen cedes some of his powers to the prime minister.

2006 October - President Chen survives an attempt by parliament to force a referendum on his rule - the second in four months. His opponents and supporters take to the streets.

2006 December - An earthquake off Taiwan cuts undersea cables, cutting off or limiting telecommunications across the region.

China highlights Taiwan as security threat in plans to upgrade military.

2007 January - Taiwan defends school history textbooks which refer to China. Beijing accuses Taipei of introducing independence ideologies into the classroom.

Chen Shui-bian's election ended 50 years of one-party rule
Born to poor family in 1951
President from 2000 to 2008
Separatism angered China
Charged with corruption in 2008

2007

March - Newspaper reports that Taiwan has test-fired cruise missile capable of hitting Shanghai or Hong Kong.

2007 March - Taiwanese government begins removing statue of Chiang Kai-shek from Kaohsiung, sparking protests.

2007 April - China and Taiwan clash over route of Olympic torch relay ahead of 2008 Beijing games.

2007 August - The country attempts to join the UN for the first time under the name Taiwan, rather than the official title of Republic of China. The application is rejected.

2008 January - Opposition KMT wins landslide victory in parliamentary elections, beating President Chen Shui-bian's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). Mr Chen steps down from post of DPP chairman.

Nationalists back in power

2008 March - Presidential elections. Ma Ying-jeou of the opposition Kuomintang Party is elected president.

2008 June - First formal talks with China since dialogue was suspended in 1999.

2008 July - President Ma apologises for the killing and imprisonment of tens of thousands of political dissidents in the 1950s and 60s - a period known as the white terror. The violence took place when martial law was imposed by the Kuomintang party after its leaders fled to the island in 1949 at the end of the Chinese civil war.

2008 November - The highest ranking Chinese official to visit Taiwan in more than half a century holds talks in Taipei on improving relations. The visit of Chen Yunlin, China's top negotiator on Taiwan, was met with protests by pro-independence supporters.

Former President Chen Shui-bian arrested and charged with money laundering, bribery and embezzlement of government funds. Mr Chen said the allegations were politically motivated.

2008 December - Gift of two giant pandas by China seen as a further improvement in relations.

Cross-Straits detente

2009 March - Former President Chen Shui-bian goes on trial on charges including taking bribes, money laundering and extortion.

2009 April - China drops longstanding objections to Taiwan's participation in World Health Organisation. Taiwanese government announces it will lift ban on investment from China.

2009 May - Chinese President Hu Jintao and the chairman of Taiwan's governing Kuomintang (KMT) party, Wu Po-hsiung, agree to launch talks on a wide-ranging trade pact.

2009 July - The leaders of China and Taiwan exchange direct messages for the first time in more than 60 years, in a sign of warming ties.

President Ma Ying-jeou is elected head of the island's ruling party - the Kuomintang, in a vote by party members.

2009 August - Typhoon Morakot hits southern Taiwan, leaving hundreds dead in floods and mudslides.

2009 September - Taiwan's premier Liu Chao-shiuan resigns in the wake of heavy criticism of the government's response to Typhoon Morakot.

Published: 2009/09/09 15:54:00 GMT

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