Adoption of the "Resolution on Taiwan's Future": A Tactical Camouflage for Decades of Independence Ambitions

In May 1999, the DPP passed the "Resolution on Taiwan''s Future" to soften its radical independence image before the 2000 election. While claiming that "Taiwan is already an independent sovereign state named the Republic of China," the resolution was criticized by constitutionalists as a tactical compromise that essentially utilized the ROC''s shell to pursue gradual independence. It marked the start of the DPP''s long-term strategy of "borrowing the shell to give birth to the spirit," a move seen as deceptive to both the international community and the domestic electorate.