Kaohsiung Incident - Background

Background

Kuomintang (abbreviated as KMT) was the only legal political party in Taiwan in the 1970s since it took power in 1949. Many opponents of the KMT asking for democracy were organized as an opposition camp gradually after the establishment of the magazine “Taiwan Political Review” in 1975 founded by one of active members, Ning-Siang Kang. These opponents called themselves “Tangwai,” literally meaning "outside the party". In its 5th edition it published an article on December 27, 1976 titled “Two States of Mind—An Evening Discussion with Fou Cong and Professor Liou” which resulted in the revocation of the publisher’s license. In the 1977 election, Tangwai expanded support significantly and won more seats than it did in previous elections. The outcome of the election manifested the potentiality of Tangwai as a quasi-opposition party to the ruling KMT and laid the ground for the ensuing mass movement.

On December 16, 1978, the U.S. President, Jimmy Carter, announced that the US would sever its official relationship with the Republic of China as of January 1, 1979. It was the most serious challenge to the Taiwan government since it lost its seat at the United Nations to the People’s Republic of China in 1971. The President Ching-kuo Chiang immediately postponed all elections without a definite deadline for its restoration. Tangwai, which had won steadily expanding support, was strongly frustrated and disappointed about Chiang’s decision since it suspended the only legitimate method they could use to express their opinions.

The leader of Tangwai, Shin-chieh Huang, and his comrades soon petitioned the KMT government for the restoration of elections, but it declined the petition. On January 21, 1979, the KMT arrested Deng-fa Yu, one of the most prestigious Tangwai leaders, and his son with the intentional false accusation of doing propaganda for the Chinese Communist Party. Tangwai regarded the arrest of Yu as a signal of complete suppression and decided to make a last-ditch effort by holding radical demonstrations on the street, resulting in the escalating conflict between the conservative KMT and Tangwai.

In May, 1979, Formosa Magazine was established by Shin-chieh Huang aiming at consolidating Tangwai members. On August 16, 1979, the 1st edition was published under the title "Joint Promotion of the New Generation’s Political Movements". The initial issue sold out all of its 25,000 copies, the 2nd and 3rd issues sold almost 100,000 copies, and the 4th issue sold more than 110,000. On October 17, 1979, a meeting of 22 Kuomintang security agencies adopted a proposal to ban the magazine after a protest from the Korean Embassy over an article in the 2nd issue titled "Unveil the Myth of the Korean Economic Miracle" (揭發韓國經濟奇蹟的神話). Tangwai held many public gatherings and protests without official permission since its first publication. The KMT only showed its symbolic power such as sending out police in riot gear without suppressing the gatherings for these meetings, and the inaction led to Tangwai’s belief in its own power and stuck to the radical approach.