White Terror (Taiwan)
In Taiwan, the White Terror () is used to describe the political repression on civilians living on the island and the surrounding areas under its control by the government under the rule of the Kuomintang (KMT). The period of White Terror is generally considered to have begun when martial law was declared in Taiwan on 19 May 1949, which were enabled by the 1948 Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion, and ended on 21 September 1992 with the repeal of Article 100 of the Criminal Code, which allowed for the prosecution of people for "anti-state" activities; the  Temporary Provisions were repealed a year earlier on 22 April 1991 and martial law was lifted on 15 July 1987. The period of White Terror generally does not include the 228 Incident of 1947, in which the KMT killed at least 18,000 Taiwanese civilians in response to a popular uprising and also summarily executed many local political and intellectual elites, though the two are frequently discussed in tandem as it was the catalyst which motivated the KMT to begin the White Terror. Martial law was declared and lifted twice during the 228 Incident. Following the 228 Incident, the KMT retreated  from mainland China to Taiwan during the closing stages of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Wanting to consolidate its rule on its remaining territories, the KMT imposed harsh political suppression measures, which included enacting martial law, executing suspected leftists or those they suspected to be sympathetic toward the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Others targeted included Taiwanese locals and indigenous peoples who participated in the 228 Incident, such as Uyongʉ Yata'uyungana, and those accused of dissidence for criticizing the government. The KMT carried out persecutions against those who criticized or opposed the government, accusing them of attempting to subvert the  regime, while excessively expanding the scope of punishment throughout this period. It made use of the Taiwan Garrison Command, a secret police, as well as other intelligence units by enacting special criminal laws as tools for the government to purge dissidents. Basic human rights and the right to privacy were disregarded, with mass pervasive monitoring of the people, filings of sham criminal cases against anyone who were suspected as being a dissident, as well as labelling any individuals who were not conforming a pro-regime stance as being communist spies, often without merit. It is estimated that about 3,000 to  4,000 civilians were executed by the government during White Terror. The government was also suspected of carrying out extrajudicial killings. Pro-democracy demonstrations attempted during this period, such as the Kaohsiung Incident, were harshly suppressed. With strong backing from the United States, the KMT ruled as a one-party state, with the existence of any other political parties strictly outlawed, resulting in non-existent competitive elections; unapproved "tangwai" candidates that won elections such as Hsu Hsin-liang would be spuriously impeached and often forced into exile. Even so, such restricted elections were marred by overt voter fraud, most notably during  the Zhongli incident. The repression that characterized the White Terror has been compared by scholars to fascist regimes elsewhere, particularly Nazi Germany. The legacy of authoritarianism during White Terror in Taiwan has persisted into the following decades. Time period. White Terror is generally considered to have begun with the declaration of martial law on 19 May 1949. For its ending date, some sources cite the lifting of martial law in 15 July 1987, while others cite the repeal of Article 100 of the Criminal Code on 21 September 1992, which allowed for the persection of people for "anti-state" activities . Martial law officially lasted for almost four decades, which had been the longest period of martial law in the world at the time it was lifted. It is now the second longest, after Syria's 48-year period of martial law which lasted from 1963 to 2011. Most prosecutions took place between the first two decades as the KMT wanted to consolidate its rule on the island. Most of those prosecuted were labeled by the Kuomintang (KMT) as "bandit spies" (), meaning communist spies, and punished as such, often with execution. A Wang Jingwei quote, often misattributed to Chiang Kai-shek , once famously said that he would rather "mistakenly kill 1,000 innocent people than allow one communist to escape". The KMT mostly imprisoned Taiwan's intellectual and social elite out of fear that they might resist KMT rule or sympathize with communism. For example, the Formosan League for Reemancipation was a Taiwanese independence group established in 1947 which the KMT believed to be under communist control, leading to its members being arrested in 1950. The World United Formosans for Independence was persecuted for similar reasons. However, other prosecutions did not have such clear reasoning; in 1968 Bo Yang was imprisoned for  his choice of words in translating a Popeye comic strip. A large number of the White Terror's other victims were mainland Chinese, many of whom owed their evacuation to Taiwan to the KMT. Many mainlander victims of White Terror, such as Bo Yang and Li Ao, moved on to promote Taiwan's democratization and the reform of the Kuomintang. In 1969, future president Lee Teng-hui was detained and interrogated for more than a week by the Taiwan Garrison Command, which demanded to know about his "communist activities" and told him "killing you at this moment is as easy  as crushing an ant to death." Three years later he was invited to join the cabinet of Chiang Ching-kuo. Fear of discussing the White Terror and the February 28 Incident gradually decreased with the lifting of martial law after the 1987 Lieyu Massacre, culminating in the establishment of an official public memorial and an apology by President Lee Teng-hui in 1995. In 2008, President Ma Ying-jeou addressed a memorial service for the White Terror in Taipei. Ma apologized to the victims and their family members on behalf of the government and expressed the hope that Taiwan would  never again experience a similar tragedy. Victims. Around 140,000 Taiwanese were imprisoned under harsh treatment during this period, with many either indirectly dying or suffering various health problems in the process. About 3,000 to 4,000 were directly executed for their real or perceived opposition to the KMT's Chiang Kai-shek government. Most of the victims of the White Terror were men, however, a number of women were tortured and/or executed. Legacy. Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, the government has set up the 228 Incident Memorial Foundation, a civilian reparations fund supported by public donations for the  victims and their families. However, there was never a proper truth and reconciliation commission. Many descendants of victims remain unaware that their family members were victims, while many of the families of victims, especially from Mainland China, did not know the details of their relatives' mistreatment during the riot.