Kaohsiung incident

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The Kaohsiung Incident ( 高雄 事件 , Gāoxióng Shìjiàn ), also known as the Formosa Incident or Meilidao Incident ( 美麗 島 事件  /  美丽 岛 事件 , Měilìdǎo Shìjiàn ) occurred during the dictatorial rule of the Kuomintang in Taiwan on December 10, 1979 She joined a pro-democracy protest rally in Kaohsiung City . The incident led to a wave of arrests that affected almost all well-known representatives of the opposition movement known as the Dangwai movement . In the long term, the incident reinforced public dissatisfaction with the prevailing political situation and also increased pressure on the government in terms of foreign policy. The incident is now valued as a turning point on the road to democracy in Taiwan .

background

After its defeat in the Chinese Civil War , the government of the Republic of China withdrew with its troops and supporters to Taiwan in 1949 , where the ruling Kuomintang party (KMT) under President Chiang Kai-shek established a one-party dictatorship. The island only came under Chinese control again after the capitulation of Japan in 1945 after 50 years of foreign rule. In 1947, following the incident of 28 February , the martial law imposed on the island. Opposition parties were banned and there were no free and general parliamentary elections. The only possibility for political activity outside the KMT was elections at the sub-state level. Over time, the politically active people outside the KMT gained greater influence, thanks in part to support from the growing middle class. The "Dangwai Movement" ( 黨外 運動  /  党外 运动 , Dǎngwài yùndòng  - “Movement outside the party”) emerged from this development .

In the 1977 provincial, county and city elections, the Dangwai movement won about a fifth of the seats. This success gave the movement even more confidence; on the other hand, it was clear to the KMT government that it was starting to face serious opposition. The KMT government under President Chiang Ching-Kuo , Chiang Kai-shek's son, responded by suspending local elections indefinitely. The Dangwai movement was deprived of the opportunity to exert political influence and protested, but in vain.

When the KMT arrested Yu Deng-Fa , a well-known veteran of the Dangwai movement, on January 21, 1979 , the opposition took it as a sign that the regime was determined to maintain its repression and dictatorship. The members of the movement therefore decided to express their protest in future demonstrations on the street, which escalated the conflict between the KMT and the Dangwai movement.

The incident

In May 1979, Dangwai supporters around the prominent oppositionist Huang Shin-chieh founded the magazine Formosa ( 美麗 島  /  美丽 岛 , Měilìdǎo ) with the aim of articulating and coordinating the positions of the opposition. The first edition appeared in September 1979 with a print run of 25,000 copies that quickly sold out. The second and third editions sold around 100,000 copies, and the fourth edition sold more than 110,000. For the time being, the police were waiting for the activities around the magazine, for example were present at meetings, but did not intervene. Encouraged by the reluctance of state power and increasing public support, the Dangwai movement finally decided, on December 10, 1979, International Human Rights Day, to hold a public rally in Kaohsiung to call for more democracy.

The magazine's Kaohsiung office twice unsuccessfully applied for approval for the event. Eventually, the organizers decided to hold the event in front of their Kaohsiung office without permission from the authorities.

On the day before the event, December 9, two advertising cars promoting the event were stopped by the police, two volunteers were arrested and beaten, prompting the Dangwai and their supporters to spontaneously protest outside the Gushan Police Station in Kaohsiung City . The outrage over the actions of the authorities caused many people to take part in the demonstration the next day.

Public expressions of dissatisfaction were still banned in Taiwan. On December 10th, hours before the scheduled event, the military and city police were in position. After a number of demonstrators gathered in a torchlight procession that evening, the military police advanced against them as one, huddled together, and then withdrew to their original position. This was repeated a number of times to intimidate the demonstrators and get them to give up. There was scuffle between the demonstrators and the police, and many were injured.

Arrests and judgments

The KMT authorities used the incident as an opportunity to arrest practically all well-known opposition leaders. After two months in solitary confinement, they were tried. The people convicted following the incident can be divided into three groups:

1. The "Eight of Kaohsiung". The eight most prominent dissidents involved in the incident are: Huang Shin-chieh , Shih Ming-teh , Yao Chia-wen , Chang Chun-hung , Lin Yi-hsiung , Annette Lu , Chen Chu, and Lin Hung-hsuan Sie were sentenced by a military tribunal in April 1980 to imprisonment from 12 years to life. One of the defense lawyers was later President Chen Shui-bian .

2. The "33 of Kaohsiung", minor characters who took part in the demonstration. They went to a civil court and were sentenced to 2 to 6 years in prison.

3. Another 10 people associated with the Presbyterian Church were charged with sheltering Shih Ming-teh. Kao Chun-ming , the general secretary of the Presbyterian Church, was sentenced to seven years in prison, while the others received lighter sentences. Shih Ming-teh's wife, an American citizen, was deported to the United States.

Formosa magazine was banned and people associated with the magazine were arrested.

Murders of the Lin Family

Because Lin Yi-hsiung, one of the "Eight of Kaohsiung", was ill-treated in prison, his wife, who was visiting him, appealed to the Amnesty International Office in Osaka on February 27, 1980 . The next day, Lin's mother and two seven-year-old twin daughters were stabbed to death by strangers in their home. Lin's eldest daughter, nine years old at the time, survived the attack, injured by thirteen stab wounds. Lin's wife, who was not at home at the time of the crime, also escaped the attack. The authorities said they knew nothing about the crime, although the family home was under police surveillance for 24 hours at the time of the crime.

Media reports

The media, controlled by the KMT government, portrayed participants in the demonstration as violent and accused them of collaborating with the Chinese Communist Party and thus promoting Taiwan's independence. The event attracted international attention, so that reports differing from the official version were published in foreign media. In addition, the murders of the Lin family, which were also reported in Taiwan, caused bitterness and indignation.

Effects

The wave of arrests of the opposition leaders was a short-term blow to the Taiwanese democracy movement. In the long run, the Kaohsiung incident became a turning point. Even before the incident, a growing Taiwanese middle class had been increasingly critical of the one-party dictatorship of the KMT. The attention-grabbing Kaohsiung incident and what happened to the Lin family created further anger. At the same time, moderate sections of the KMT began to see the need for reform. The USA, too, which despite the severance of diplomatic relations as part of the recognition of the People's Republic of China, was interested in a stable Taiwan as a counterbalance, pushed the regime to reform.

A slow reform process began in the years following the Kaohsiung incident. Networks of Taiwanese advocates of democracy were founded abroad to support the opposition's tough struggle with state power. Step by step, the government relaxed the dictatorship. The opposition activists arrested after the incident were released between 1986 and 1990, in 1987 martial law was repealed and opposition parties were allowed to form.

Many of the people arrested after the Kaohsiung incident and their sympathizers joined the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), founded in 1986, and made political careers. Chen Shui-bian , who had defended the "Eight of Kaohsiung" in court as a lawyer, was elected as the first DPP candidate for President of the Republic of China ; its Vice President, Annette Lu , was one of the "Eight of Kaohsiung". Chen Chu is the acting mayor of Kaohsiung City.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Weggel (2007), p. 181.
  2. ↑ Chen, Fupian (2007): The development of public opinion during “The Formosa Arrest” - With an Analysis of the Mainstream Print Media. In: Taiwan Historical Research, 14 (1), 191–230 (美麗 島 大 逮捕 "前後 國內 輿論 情勢 之 發展 - 以 主流 平面 媒體 爲主 的 分析).
  3. ^ Huang Fu-san: The First Democracy in the Chinese World: The Kaohsiung Incident and Taiwan's Political Miracle . In: A Brief History of Taiwan - A Sparrow Transformed into a Phoenix . Taipei: Government Information Office, 2005.
  4. ↑ Huang Fu-san: A Brief History of Taiwan - A Sparrow Transformed into a Phoenix. Taipei: Government Information Office, 2005.
  5. ↑ Weggel (2007), p. 183.
  6. ↑ Chou (2009), p. 290.
  7. ^ Pang, Ming-Fui (2001): The Editorials of the Untied Daily News toward the Magnificent Political Events during the Postwar Taiwan. In: The Journal of History, 18, 277–308. 《聯合 報》 社論 對 台灣 重大 政治 事件 的 立場 與 觀點 (1950–1995).
  8. ^ Ying, Diane (January 24, 1980): Taiwan Is Planning Open Trials Soon for Dissidents . New York Times