What is the Chinese word for democracy, and what are its connotations? The word is minzhu, consisting of the Chinese characters min (people) and zhu (ruler). The term first appears in the ancient Chinese classics, where it means "ruler of the people, " or king. In the nineteenth century, Japanese translators adopted the two-character term to represent the Western word democracy in the sense of "the people as ruler. " (In Japanese, which is written partly with Chinese characters, the term is pronounced minshu.) As used today, the term has the same range of meanings and the same ambiguity as it does in Western languages. What was Taiwan's government like before the recent victory by the opposition candidate for president? In 1989, when Tiananmen occurred, Taiwan was in the early stages of democratization. From 1945, when Taiwan reverted from Japanese to Chinese control, through 1987, Taiwan was ruled by the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party), first under Chiang Kai-shek and then under his son Chiang Ching-kuo. Kuomintang rule was authoritarian. Chiang Ching-kuo authorized the beginnings of democratization in 1986. The process was accelerated under his successor Lee Teng-hui. In 1992, Taiwan's full legislature was democratically elected for the first time, and in 1996 Lee himself was democratically elected for a second term. The democratization process achieved a culmination of sorts in 2000, when Chen Shui-bian, the nominee of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, won the presidential election. Never before in the history of Taiwan (or, for that matter, of China) had an opposition party captured the nation's highest office. What would Chinese democracy probably be like? Among Chinese political thinkers, a variety of answers to this question can be identified. The ruling Chinese Communist Party contends that China is already democratic because it is ruled in the interests of the people and has a set of consultative and electoral mechanisms (which it does, but mostly just on paper). Many dissidents see the essence of a future Chinese democracy as residing in authentic competitive elections, a free press, and a multiparty system. They also believe that the military needs to be removed from Party control—in Chinese parlance, " statized, " or made subject to the government rather than to the Party. A few political thinkers advocate a federal system. Few Chinese seem to find much appeal in a democracy defined by an American-style separation of powers, which is seen as tending to paralyze government and produce partisan squabbling. Similarly, most Chinese show little enthusiasm for American-style civil liberties—they think the American criminal system is too lenient toward criminals. Foreign analysts are divided over how quickly democracy might take root in China and what form it might take. Most, although not all, think some form of democracy will come to China sooner or later. Some think it will be introduced gradually and that the Communist Party can stay in power. Others point out that change in China has often occurred with surprising suddenness, and fear that democracy might be introduced through a breakdown of the current system, leading to disorder and instability.