Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
occupation. He stubbornly regarded his as the sole legitimate
government of all of China and the Communists on the mainland as
mere “communist bandits” (gongfei) who would one day be extermi-
nated. Generations of soldiers in Taiwan were inducted into the Nation-
alist armed forces and indoctrinated with this unrealistic hope. Until
around 1987, political and military slogans about one day returning to
the mainland and defeating the Communists were plastered every-
where: on government buildings, street signs, school walls, and even
mailboxes. Chiang Kai-shek suspended plans for participatory democ-
racy in Taiwan indefinitely because of the “national emergency” involv-
ing “Communist bandit insurgency” on the mainland. The ragtag
remnants of his central government and various provincial govern-
ments ran the entire show, and the tiny number of officials from Taiwan
he allowed to be elected into his government and rubber-stamp legisla-
ture made little significant difference in the formulation of government
policy. Chiang ruled Taiwan with an iron fist and promptly clapped
anyone who criticized him or his government in jail. His government
controlled all newspapers, television stations, and radio broadcasts
and encouraged people to inform anonymously on “Communist trou-
blemakers” (feidie, literally “bandit agents”). Government signs in pub-
lic buses gave people the telephone numbers to call to inform on
suspected Communist troublemakers. “Everyone is responsible for
informing on bandit agents” (Jianju feidie, renren you ze). Fear in the pop-
ulace and paranoia in the government characterized the bad old days
under Chiang's rule.
The Nationalists were in paranoid shock after they relocated to Tai-
wan in 1949 and 1950, and many of them tended to see communists
behind every door and under every rock. Chiang Kai-shek's son
Chiang Ching-kuo (later the President of the Republic of China on Tai-
wan from 1978 to 1988) was put in charge of the Nationalists' internal
security apparatus on the island, and his agents were ruthless and
greatly feared. During Taiwan's long period of White Terror (1949-
1987), when martial law was in force, the Nationalist government
arrested large numbers of suspected communists, sometimes on the
flimsiest of evidence, and brutally and summarily executed many of
them. Thousands more were arrested, tortured, and sentenced to long
terms in prison on charges of criticizing the government, sedition,
advocating Taiwan independence, or functioning as communist
agents. The majority of these victims were innocent, and several of
them were prominent members of Taiwan's society, including female
dance instructor Ts'ai Jui-yueh, female radio broadcaster and per-
former Ts'ui Hsiao-p'ing, writer Poyang, English grammar textbook
