Symposium on 30th anniversary of direct presidential election to be held on the 23rd, focusing on Taiwan's democratic development

The "30th Anniversary of Direct Presidential Election - 2026 Lee Teng-hui Memorial Academic Symposium," co-organized by the Academia Historica and the Lee Teng-hui Foundation, will kick off tomorrow. Scholars from Taiwan and Japan have been invited to review the historical significance of the first direct presidential election in 1996 and examine Taiwan's 30-year democratic development from the perspectives of constitutionalism, democratization, national identity, and electoral politics. The Academia Historica issued a press release today stating that the symposium will be held on the 23rd and 24th, with Presidential Office Senior Advisor Tien Hung-mao attending to deliver opening remarks. The symposium has invited Masatake Wakabayashi, professor emeritus at the University of Tokyo and Waseda University, to deliver a keynote speech titled "The Significance of the Realization of Direct Presidential Election in Taiwan's History." He will analyze the impact of direct presidential elections on the formation of the political community from the perspective of modern Taiwanese history and propose viewpoints such as the "Taiwanization of the Republic of China" and "Taiwan-scale nation-state." The Academia Historica noted that 14 papers will be presented at the symposium, covering fields such as constitutionalism, elections, diplomacy, media, and society, followed by a concluding panel discussion.