Taiwan's main opposition Kuomintang, which won parliamentary elections in convincing fashion, once viewed China as its worst enemy. Now, the party wants to develop closer ties with Beijing.
The Kuomintang (KMT), which had ruled Taiwan for more than 50 years until the election of pro-independence President Chen Shui-bian in 2000, now looks poised to reclaim the executive, heralding a new era in cross-strait relations.
The KMT was founded in 1894 by Sun Yat-sen in Hawaii, where he recruited supporters to fight against the Qing dynasty in China.
The young revolutionaries overthrew the Qing government in 1911 and established the Republic of China.
The KMT ruled mainland China until its forces, led by generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, were defeated by Mao Zedong's communists in a bloody civil war.
Under Mr Chiang, the nationalists set up a government in Taiwan in 1949, laying the foundation for the island's industrial development and eventual emergence as one of the world's major economies.
But Mr Chiang governed the island for nearly three decades with an iron fist, persecuting dissidents and limiting freedoms in an effort to counter the perceived threat from China. He died in 1975.
His son Chiang Ching-kuo, who served as president and KMT chief from 1978 until his death in 1988, is warmly remembered as a reform-minded leader who had lived a simple life and cared for the people.
Chiang Ching-kuo relaxed a 38-year-old ban on China-bound travels in late 1987, allowing Taiwanese to visit the mainland for family reunions and opening the door to the future expansion of cross-strait civilian exchanges.
But following his death in 1988, the party - under the leadership of Lee Teng-hui from 1988 to 2000 - fell victim to widespread corruption and factional fighting.
The Kuomintang collapsed in the 2000 presidential polls, as disgruntled voters handed power to Mr Chen's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), hoping for clean politics. Mr Chen was re-elected in 2004.
The KMT's one-time animosity towards Beijing is now a thing of the past.
In 2005, Lien Chan became the first KMT leader to visit the mainland in 56 years, meeting Chinese President Hu Jintao to formally end hostilities with the Chinese Communist Party.
KMT presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou, the current frontrunner, says he will push for a peace accord with Beijing if elected in March, and work to expand business ties and reinstate direct transportation and postal links.
- AFP
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