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Almost 80 years ago, on February 28, 1947, tens of thousands of Taiwanese who had risen up against the Government were murdered. It was the beginning of the “White Terror” period. For 40 years, Taiwanese were unjustly imprisoned or even executed. In 1987, with the lifting of martial law, Taiwan began its march toward democracy, and three decades later a Transitional Justice Commission was created to work toward reconciliation. But this dark past still torments the Taiwanese people.
At the end of World War II, the island of Taiwan, which had been occupied for 50 years by Japan, was handed over to China, ruled at the time by Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese Nationalist Party, the Kuomintang. But in 1947, Chinese troops landing on the island were met with unrest by the local population, whose living conditions were deteriorating. The subsequent repression turned into a massacre. Thus began the “White Terror”, which lasted 40 years.
Things got even worse after 1949, when the Kuomintang was expelled from China by the communists and Chiang Kai-shek retreated to Taiwan, where he established the Republic of China, becoming president for life and declaring martial law. Under his dictatorship, the political rights of the Taiwanese people were suppressed and several thousand of them, accused of being political opponents, were executed. Tens of thousands more were imprisoned.
It was not until 1987 that martial law was lifted and Taiwan began its march toward democracy. As the island slowly woke up from a painful nightmare, it was faced with the atrocities committed over the years. How could those responsible for the “White Terror” be brought to justice? How could victims be rehabilitated?
In 2000, the first peaceful transfer of power to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) accelerated the debate. But it is above all the current Taiwanese president, Tsai Ing-wen, of the DPP – who has confronted Beijing during her two terms – who has tackled the issue head-on.
Battle for collective memory
In 2018, a Transitional Justice Commission was created. For four years, he worked to reconcile Taiwanese society: the vast majority of symbols of authoritarianism were removed; thousands of political files were collected, declassified and analyzed; teams worked to find former political prisoners in order to rehabilitate and compensate them; and therapeutic centers were opened for the victims and their loved ones.
But implementing transitional justice is complex. The Kuomintang continued to rule Taiwan for 13 years after martial law was lifted and remains one of the island's main political parties.
Meanwhile, many archives have disappeared, especially with the dissolution of the secret police. Dictatorship remains a taboo topic in many Taiwanese families. Even today, the issue of the “White Terror” remains a battle for collective memory that divides Taiwanese society.
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