As part of the process of normalizing relations with Beijing, Washington followed a delicate policy of helping Taiwan to defend itself, while calling for a peaceful negotiated settlement between the two sides. Originally, US policy was based on the premise that the governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait agreed there was but one China of which they were a part, but disagreed as to who was the legitimate government of the country. Taiwan at that point was still ruled by a dictatorial party (the KMT) that had come from the mainland in the late 1940s and had suppressed the local residents. As Taiwan democratized in the 1990s those circumstances changed. Much to the chagrin of Beijing, the KMT under the leadership of the local-born Lee Teng-hui began to stress the separate character of Taiwan as a democracy whose legitimacy was derived from the people of Taiwan. Beijing began to build a military capability to enable it to invade or at least attack the island as a deterrent against it becoming formally independent. At the same time, Beijing strongly suspected that the United States (or powerful groups within it) was tacitly encouraging separatist elements within Taiwan so as to prevent unification, keep China divided and block its emergence to its rightful place as a major power. For its part, the Clinton administration did not pay much attention to the issue in its early years. China had lost its strategic significance and its government was still treated with considerable reserve. Indeed, in keeping with some European allies, Washington had marginally upgraded the character of its representation on the island without regard to Beijing’s views.