After their release from jail, the Kaohsiung Eight became instant celebrities, and continued to play an important part in Taiwan's democratic development. Nearly half of the defense team, meanwhile, pursued political careers after the trial, becoming the backbone of the DPP's leadership.
Twenty years ago, the courage of the Kaohsiung Eight and their defenders helped precipitate Taiwan's democratization. Even today many Taiwanese treat these people as folk heros. But as the political environment changed in the two decades, the credit for pushing for Taiwan's democratization has not necessarily gone to those who campaigned for so long and suffered so much to bring it about.
"The spotlight was stolen by [the KMT's] Lee Teng-hui, who has also been pushing for political reform from a Taiwanese perspective," said political analyst Julian Kuo (
RSS