On behalf of Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) government, Chen Yi (陳儀) accepted the Japanese instrument of surrender from Rikichi Ando at Taipei City Hall — which is now Taipei Zhongshan Hall — on Oct. 25, 1945. Chen did so on the authorization of US general Douglas MacArthur’s General Order No. 1, while the flags of four allied nations, the US, Britain, the then-Soviet Union and the Republic of China (ROC), flew side-by-side at the ceremony.
Meanwhile, the Russian representative accepted Japan’s surrender in the Manchurian area in northeastern China and Chiang’s representative accepted Japan’s surrender in northern Vietnam. Then-Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh immediately demanded that Chiang’s troops withdraw from the nation. The ROC was able to occupy Taiwan and maintain its long rule since 1949 because it served as Washington’s Asian front line during the Cold War.
At the time, Taiwanese warmly welcomed the “motherland” due to a misjudgement based on national sentiment rather than the legal principles of international law. They were confused and deceived.
After entering Taiwan, Chiang’s troops and military government were mentally unprepared for Taiwan, which after having been colonized by Japan for half a century had moved from a period of resistance to a period of assimilation. Since war between the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was about to break out in China, the KMT was deeply anxious in the face of its many crises.
When the 228 Incident occurred in 1947, the KMT government took the opportunity to eliminate Taiwanese intellectual elites and dissidents. After the party-state was completely relocated to Taiwan in 1949, it tried to implicate possible dissidents and communists during the White Terror era of the 1950s to achieve its goal of implementing the “Chiang system.”
Despite its actions, the ROC had the chance to gain a new lease on life in Taiwan, but it lost this chance and has failed to recognize democracy and freedom as true values. In the end, the KMT is reduced to leaning on the CCP and it has taken the ROC and attached itself to the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
The “Lei Chen (雷震) incident” in the 1960s was an unsuccessful attempt at political reform, as Taiwanese elites opposing the government and some Mainlanders used Lei’s magazine, Free China, to criticize Chiang for serving a third presidential term. However, they failed to establish the China Democratic Party, which could have been the nation’s first opposition party. Lei was imprisoned for 10 years from 1960 to 1970 and many others were also implicated in the case.
In 1964, three Taiwanese activists — Peng Ming-min (彭明敏), Wei Ting-chao (魏廷朝) and Hsieh Tsung-min (謝聰敏) — released A Declaration of Formosan Self-salvation to expose the lie of “regaining the mainland.” They demanded reform and reconstruction, hoping to build a government in line with reality, but they were sentenced and imprisoned, and Peng later fled the nation and lived in exile for more than 20 years.
Unfortunately, the KMT and the Chiang regime missed critical chances during both these periods. Moreover, after the 1979 Kaohsiung Incident, the lifting of martial law, the establishment of free elections of the legislature and six direct presidential votes, the KMT still has not eliminated its colonialist nature or adapted to democratization or a more Taiwan-centered society.
The KMT is a fragmentary remainder of a China that does not belong to Taiwan. As the ROC loses its status as a nation and the KMT causes universal anger, the party is simply digging its own grave, but the most hateful thing is that it is also dragging occupied Taiwan down with it.
Lee Min-yung is a poet.
Translated by Eddy Chang
A gap appears to be emerging between Washington’s foreign policy elites and the broader American public on how the United States should respond to China’s rise. From my vantage working at a think tank in Washington, DC, and through regular travel around the United States, I increasingly experience two distinct discussions. This divergence — between America’s elite hawkishness and public caution — may become one of the least appreciated and most consequential external factors influencing Taiwan’s security environment in the years ahead. Within the American policy community, the dominant view of China has grown unmistakably tough. Many members of Congress, as
After declaring Iran’s military “gone,” US President Donald Trump appealed to the UK, France, Japan and South Korea — as well as China, Iran’s strategic partner — to send minesweepers and naval forces to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. When allies balked, the request turned into a warning: NATO would face “a very bad” future if it refused. The prevailing wisdom is that Trump faces a credibility problem: having spent years insulting allies, he finds they would not rally when he needs them. That is true, but superficial, as though a structural collapse could be caused by wounded feelings. Something
Former Taipei mayor and Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) founding chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was sentenced to 17 years in prison on Thursday, making headlines across major media. However, another case linked to the TPP — the indictment of Chinese immigrant Xu Chunying (徐春鶯) for alleged violations of the Anti-Infiltration Act (反滲透法) on Tuesday — has also stirred up heated discussions. Born in Shanghai, Xu became a resident of Taiwan through marriage in 1993. Currently the director of the Taiwan New Immigrant Development Association, she was elected to serve as legislator-at-large for the TPP in 2023, but was later charged with involvement
Out of 64 participating universities in this year’s Stars Program — through which schools directly recommend their top students to universities for admission — only 19 filled their admissions quotas. There were 922 vacancies, down more than 200 from last year; top universities had 37 unfilled places, 40 fewer than last year. The original purpose of the Stars Program was to expand admissions to a wider range of students. However, certain departments at elite universities that failed to meet their admissions quotas are not improving. Vacancies at top universities are linked to students’ program preferences on their applications, but inappropriate admission
RSS