Taiwan is a democracy with 4 year elections. When Taiwan operated in one party rule under the Chiang family they did not make significant economic progress.
> When Taiwan operated in one party rule under the Chiang family they did not make significant economic progress
This is objectively wrong.
Taiwan made tremendous economic progress during the period of one-party rule under Chiang Kai-shek and later his son Chiang Ching-kuo. During the KMT's authoritarian rule from the late 1940s through the 1980s, Taiwan experienced the "Taiwan Miracle". Land reforms in the 1950s boosted agricultural productivity and created a rural middle class. In the 1960s Taiwan shifted from an agriculture-based economy to an export-oriented industrial economy, and by the 1980s Taiwan had one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, with GDP growth rates often exceeding 8-10% annually. Chiang pursued an export-led growth model, encouraging foreign investment and industrial development, supporting industries like semiconductors, which is why you have TSMC today.
The KMT government also made major investments in education, particularly in science and engineering, hugely increasing literacy rates. All these strategic initiatives and policies meant that Taiwan became one of the Four Asian Tigers by the 1980s.
On a slightly related note, on Taiwanese social media today it is not uncommon to come across Taiwanese people lamenting that the KMT built the TSMC, and the DPP is selling it out. Whether this is a fair and accurate assessment of the DPP is another discussion, but this seems to be the sentiment among many Taiwanese these days.
Credit where credit is due, you're right. I'll admit, I was very unimpressed with the Chiang family's rule in general and ascribed the success of Taiwan to them not being charge, which was not correct. Quoting from the end of the wikipedia background article on the Taiwan Miracle:
> After retreating to Taiwan, Chiang learned from his mistakes and failures in the mainland and blamed them for failing to pursue Sun Yat-sen's ideals of Tridemism and welfarism. Chiang's land reform more than doubled the land ownership of Taiwanese farmers. It removed the rent burdens on them, with former land owners using the government compensation to become the new capitalist class. He promoted a mixed economy of state and private ownership with economic planning. Chiang also promoted a 9-years compulsory education and the importance of science in Taiwanese education and values. These measures generated great success with consistent and strong growth and the stabilization of inflation.
