Lee Teng-hui

Lee Teng-hui (15 January 1923 – 30 July 2020) was a Taiwanese politician holding a doctorate in agricultural economics, a member of the Kuomintang, and President of the Republic of China from 1988 to 2000 — the first president of Taiwanese (benshengren) origin, and the central political figure in Taiwan's democratisation.

During his presidency, Lee advanced a series of major constitutional reforms, including the termination of the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of National Mobilisation for Suppression of the Communist Rebellion (1991), the full re-election of the Legislative Yuan (1992), and the direct election of the President (1996), completing Taiwan's peaceful transition from authoritarian to democratic governance. In June 1995, Lee visited Cornell University in a private capacity, becoming the first sitting Taiwanese president to visit the United States since the severance of diplomatic relations in 1979, an event that directly triggered the PRC's missile tests and military exercises constituting the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis. In March 1996, he won Taiwan's first direct presidential election with 54% of the vote under PLA military intimidation. In his later years Lee moved towards a stronger Taiwanese nativist orientation and is regarded by many as a key figure in the formation of Taiwanese political identity.