20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF MARTIAL LAW:Taiwanese society under martial law remembered

It was common for newspapers to be asked to run propaganda stories or make last-minute editorial changes to suit the government's needs. Foreign-language newspapers were also strictly regulated. Only those that strongly opposed Communism were allowed to enter the market.

The Chinese-language China Times and United Daily News capitalized on the regulations and grew to become the two mainstream local newspapers, said Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), a researcher at Academia Sinica's Institute of Modern History.

While the media were under the tight grip of the Taiwan Garrison Command, soldiers stationed at the post office could open mail and listen to private telephone conversations at the telephone company for "security reasons," he said.

Many songs, both Chinese and Taiwanese, were banned during the martial law era.

Teresa Teng's (鄧麗君) popular Chinese song When Will You Come Back? (何日君再來) was banned because the authorities considered the Chinese word "you" (君) -- pronounced jun in Mandarin -- was a reference to the Communists liberation "army" (軍), which has the same pronunciation.

Yao Su-ron's (姚蘇蓉) The Breaker of a Pure Heart (負心的人) was not only banned, Yao was arrested on stage before she could start to sing it.

Dubbed the "queen of banned songs," Yao had about 80 or 90 songs banned.

Wen Shia (文夏) was touted the "king of banned songs." Nearly 100 of his songs were banned.

Taiwanese songs with titles such as Mending the Net (補破網), Sentimental Memories (舊情綿綿) and Mama, I Am Brave (媽媽我也真勇健) were thought to "corrode military morale," "reflect the plight of the people" and "create nostalgia for life in mainland China."

Official statistics show that more than 930 songs were banned from 1979 to 1987. Among the 10 reasons given by the authorities for banning songs were that they promoted left-wing ideology, reflected Communist propaganda, corroded popular sentiments and endangered the physical and mental health of youth.

Chen Yen-hui (陳延輝), a professor at National Taiwan Normal University's Graduate Institute of Political Science, said that martial law hindered Taiwan's burgeoning democracy, which began as early as the 1920s under Japanese colonial rule.

At that time, Taiwanese were allowed to elect local representatives equivalent to today's county commissioners, only representing larger constituencies.

"Democracy is a gradual process. Imagine what Taiwan would have been like had martial law not been instituted," he said.