Analysis of the geometry and kinematics of structural fabrics in the pre-Tertiary metamorphic basement of east-central Taiwan provides evidence for transpression and lateral extrusion during oblique collision. Four structural domains are recognized on the basis of systematic variations in the dip direction of S1 and the trend of L1. Domains I, IIa, and IIb contain a northeast-striking S1 and a northeast-or southwestplunging L1, raking 30Њ-45Њ on S1. In contrast, domain III, at the western edge of the pre-Tertiary metamorphic basement, has an approximately downdip L1, similar to the Slate Belt. Microscale kinematic indicators from domains I, IIa, and IIb yield a consistent, left-lateral, strike-slip component of oblique motion. Analyses of microstructures in the Chipan granitic gneiss in domain I and the geometry of mesoscale folds in phyllitic rocks in domain IIa provide qualitative evidence for constrictional strain. Evaluation of potential primary configurations of structural domains, combined with geologic and tectonic information, suggests that the pre-Tertiary metamorphic basement and the Slate Belt formed as a southeast-dipping package; post-S1 block rotation of domain IIa is interpreted to have produced the present arrangement of domains. The pre-Tertiary metamorphic basement was deformed within a zone of left-lateral transpression. The shallow plunge of the L1 lineation and the evidence for constrictional strain in domains I, IIa, and IIb suggest that the orogenperpendicular component of oblique convergence was accommodated by lateral extrusion. Significant vertical thickening may have been prevented by the presence of a shallowly east-dipping rigid arc lid overlying the pre-Tertiary metamorphic basement.