TAIWAN PANORAMA 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Taiwan Panorama

Shaping Taiwan Through Every Choice. The rights we have today—to vote, speak openly, choose how we want to live, and expect fair treatment—may seem like ordinary parts of life. Yet they were built through years of challenge and perseverance. Every voice raised and every choice made has helped shape the Taiwan we know today.Over time, democracy has opened more space for public participation, while different cultures, communities, and identities have gained greater recognition. Freedom, inclusion, and respect have become values shared across society.“Democracy in Progress” marks 30 years since Taiwan’s first direct presidential election, tracing democracy through elections, civic movements, and transitional justice. “Her Century” follows generations of women as they expand their roles and pursue increasingly diverse paths. “The Power of a Name” explores the Indigenous name rectification movement, revealing how names carry history, identity, and the right to be recognized.Looking back over 50 years, these photographs reveal a Taiwan still evolving. Every choice has helped shape the island today—and continues to open new possibilities for its future.

Yang Chang Pi-lien has climbed 100 peaks rising above 3,000 meters, making her a record-holder for cumulative ascent among women mountaineers. Her climbing records show that over ten years she climbed a total of 300,000 vertical meters—an achievement rare among women mountaineers internationally. (Courtesy of Yang Chang Pi-lien)

“In that era, how many mothers wept through the long nights for children imprisoned on this island?” These few words, inscribed on the Green Island Human Rights Monument, formally completed on December 10, 1999, lay bare a profound grief.Green Island was once one of Taiwan’s principal detention sites for political prisoners. After political restrictions were lifted and many cases were redressed, survivors of political persecution, their families, and human-rights advocates formed a foundation, raised funds, and built the monument to commemorate the suffering of that period and bear witness to the government’s past wrongs and the victims’ suffering.

The “Restore Our Surnames Movement” led to a 1995 amendment to the Name Act that allowed Indigenous people to use traditional names on their national ID cards. Taiwan Panorama documented Indigenous peoples’ political and rights-based efforts to reclaim traditional names, secure recognition of their peoples’ proper names, and revive hunting culture—evidence of an awakening in identity and cultural consciousness.

Taiwan held its first direct presidential election on March 23, 1996. For the first time, the people of Taiwan directly elected their president, marking a major milestone in Taiwan’s democratic development. Decades of social movements and institutional transformation helped produce today’s Taiwan, rated internationally as a “full democracy.”

In May 2019, Taiwan made history by becoming the first country in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage. Governments and media worldwide praised Taiwan as a pioneer in defending human rights, freedom, and democracy.

For Taiwan, the most profound significance of lifting martial law was that people gained the freedom to reflect on and construct the value of their own existence. From that day forward, the people of Taiwan had the possibility of becoming “free people” in the philosophical sense.

In 2016, Taiwan elected its first woman president, Tsai Ing-wen, marking a milestone for democracy and equality. In 2000, President Chen Shui-bian fulfilled a campaign pledge to give women a greater role in government. With Vice President Annette Lu and nine women serving as cabinet members, his administration set a record for the largest number of women in senior government posts in Taiwan’s political history.