TAIWAN; THE WHITE TERROR

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thelivyjr
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TAIWAN; THE WHITE TERROR

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White Terror (Taiwan)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In Taiwan, the White Terror was the suppression of political dissidents following the February 28 incident.

The period of martial law lasted 38 years and 57 days from 19 May 1949 to 15 July 1987.

Taiwan's period of martial law had been the longest period of martial law in the world at the time it was lifted, but has since been surpassed by the Syrian 48-year period of martial law, which lasted from 1963 to 2011.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: TAIWAN; THE WHITE TERROR

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White Terror (Taiwan), continued ...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Time period

The term "White Terror" in its broadest meaning refers to the entire period from 1947 to 1987.

Around 140,000 Taiwanese were imprisoned during this period, of whom from about 3,000 to 4,000 were executed for their real or perceived opposition to the Kuomintang (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party) government led by Chiang Kai-shek.


Most actual prosecutions, though, took place in 1950–1953.

Most of those prosecuted were labeled by the Kuomintang as "bandit spies," meaning communist spies, and punished as such.

The KMT mostly imprisoned Taiwan's intellectual and social elite out of fear that they might resist KMT rule or sympathize with communism.

For example, the Formosan League for Reemancipation was a Taiwanese independence group established in 1947 which the KMT believed to be under communist control, leading to its members being arrested in 1950.

The World United Formosans for Independence was persecuted for similar reasons.

However, other prosecutions did not have such clear reasoning; in 1968 Bo Yang was imprisoned for his choice of words in translating a Popeye comic strip.

A large number of the White Terror's other victims were mainland Chinese, many of whom owed their evacuation to Taiwan to the KMT.

Many of the mainland Chinese who survived the White Terror in Taiwan, like Bo Yang and Li Ao, moved on to promote Taiwan's democratization and the reform of the Kuomintang.


In 1969, future president Lee Teng-hui was detained and interrogated for more than a week by the Taiwan Garrison Command, which demanded to know about his "communist activities" and told him "killing you at this moment is as easy as crushing an ant to death."

Three years later he was invited to join the cabinet of Chiang Ching-kuo.

Fear of discussing the White Terror and the February 28 Incident gradually decreased with the lifting of martial law after the 1987 Lieyu Massacre, culminating in the establishment of an official public memorial and an apology by President Lee Teng-hui in 1995.

In 2008, President Ma Ying-jeou addressed a memorial service for the White Terror in Taipei.

Ma apologized to the victims and their family members on behalf of the government, and expressed the hope that Taiwan would never again experience a similar tragedy.

TO BE CONTINUED ...
thelivyjr
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Re: TAIWAN; THE WHITE TERROR

Post by thelivyjr »

White Terror (Taiwan), concluded ...

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Examples

1947: The 228 Massacre, where thousands of anti-government protestors were killed. The incident marked the beginning of the White Terror.

1949: The July 13 Penghu incident, where secondary school students, refugees from Shandong province, were conscripted by force as child soldiers on July 13.

1952: Chungli Yimin Middle School incident, where many teachers were arrested and executed.

1952: Luku incident, during which 35 people were executed and 98 imprisoned.

1953: Aborigine leaders Tang Shou-jen and Uyongʉ Yata'uyungana are arrested and executed in 1954.

1954: Soviet civilian tanker Tuapse was privateered in high sea with 49 crew being mistreated and detained up to 34 years and 3 death.

1960: Arrest of Lei Chen, publisher of the Free China Journal.

1961: Su Tung-chi case.

1968: Arrests of writers Chen Yin-chen and Chiu Yen-liang, who supported independence.

1972: Trials of Huang Chi-nan and Chung Chien-hsun.

1979: Eight pro-democracy activists are arrested following a protest on December 10, later known as the Kaohsiung Incident.

1980: The mother and twin daughters of democracy activist Lin Yi-hsiung (arrested following the Kaohsiung incident) are stabbed to death on Feb. 28.

1981: Carnegie Mellon statistics professor Chen Wen-chen is found dead on July 3 after a long interrogation session with government officials during a visit to Taiwan.

1984: Journalist Henry Liu is assassinated at his home in Daly City, California, for writings disparaging President of the Republic of China, Chiang Ching-kuo. The assassination is thought to have been orchestrated by Pai Wan-hsiang.

1987: 1987 Lieyu Massacre, 19 landed refugees were killed by the military and evidence was destroyed. The ROC government denied that the incident occurred after it was reported by journalists and during questioning by the parliament.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Terror_(Taiwan)
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