President Chiang Ching-kuo ends the martial law that had been in force since 1949. Opposition parties are legalised, press restrictions ease and Taiwan's transition to democracy begins in earnest, with the Democratic Progressive Party having been founded the previous year.
Why it mattersDemocratisation changed what the dispute is about. Once Taiwan's future became something its population votes on, no agreement between elites could settle it — and the identity shift that followed has moved in one direction ever since.