Kaohsiung Incident

The Kaohsiung Incident also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident or the Formosa Magazine incident was the result of pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan on December 10, 1979.

The incident occurred when Formosa Magazine, headed by veteran opposition Legislative Yuan Legislator Huang Shin-chieh (黃信介), and other opposition politicians held a demonstration commemorating Human Rights Day in an effort to promote and demand democracy in Taiwan. At that time, the Republic of China was a one-party state and the government used this protest as an excuse to arrest the main leaders of the political opposition. Kaohsiung Incident is well-recognized as a critical and important event in the post-war history of Taiwan and regarded as the watershed of the Taiwan democratization movements. The event had the effect of galvanizing the Taiwanese community into political actions and regarded as one of the events that eventually led to democracy in Taiwan.