Chapter 9 : ROC on Taiwan—Political Developments

 

Outline

In 1945, the Japanese colonization ended and Taiwan became a province of the Republic of China (ROC). However, the new Taiwan Provincial Executive Office governed the island poorly, resulting in the February 28 Incident in 1947.

At the end of 1949, the central government relocated to Taiwan and enforced martial law, strengthening military defenses on Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. However, it also put local self-governance into practice step by step. By 1987, in response to the changing political situation, the government lifted martial law and sped towards democratization.

The foreign policy since 1949 can be divided into three periods, namely consolidating diplomacy, flexible diplomacy and pragmatic diplomacy. In order to maintain Taiwan’s position in the world, foreign policy has been adapted to international developments. At the same time, cross-strait relations between China and Taiwan have also changed, from military confrontation to peaceful coexistence.

 

10-1 Early period

The Taiwan Provincial Executive Office and the Retrocession of Taiwan

At the end of 1943, the leaders of the ROC, the US and the UK released the Cairo Declaration, assuring that Manchuria, Formosa, and the Pescadores (Penghu) would be restored to the Republic of China upon the defeat of Japan. In 1944, the ROC government established the Taiwan Survey Commission to prepare for the retrocession.

In August, 1945, Japan agreed to an unconditional surrender. Immediately, the ROC established the Taiwan Provincial Executive Office, with Chen Yi as chief administrator. Chen Yi was in charge of the retrocession. People in Taiwan welcomed the officers and officials from China with open arms. On October 25, the ceremony celebrating Japan’s surrender and Taiwan’s retrocession was held in Taipei. Taiwan was no longer a Japanese colony but was now a province of the ROC. Ever since, October 25 has been celebrated as “Taiwan Retrocession Day.”

 

Poor Governance

The Taiwan Provincial Executive Office was different from other provincial governments in Mainland China in terms of organization. The chief administrator of Taiwan had more power than governors in China: he had executive and military power with some legislative and judicial power. The chief administrator was more like the Japanese Governor-General than like a provincial governor in China. This state of affairs aroused a great deal of criticism and discontent among the Taiwanese people.

The Taiwanese people were looking forward to the opportunity for an opportunity to participate in government, but they were soon disillusioned. The most important administrative posts in the Taiwan Provincial Executive Office were nearly monopolized by officials from China. Taiwanese people were only allowed to take low ranking positions. Further, mainlanders received higher salary and benefits than Taiwanese for the same posts.

In addition to these inequities, there were other sore points. The administration was inefficient, officials were corrupt, and soldiers were undisciplined. There was increasing public discontent, but the government did nothing to correct the situation.

 

February 28 Incident, 1947

With the civil war in China and ill-advised policies in Taiwan, the people faced an economic crisis. Inflation raged out of control and unemployment was high. Moreover, there was a language barrier between mainlanders and Taiwanese. The mainlanders spoke Mandarin or other dialects while the Taiwanese mainly spoke Holo Taiwanese and Hakka. The social order also went from bad to worse. Consequently, Taiwanese people’s hopes faded and despair set in. A seemingly insignificant incident blew up into an island-wide anti-government resistance movement.

On February 27, 1947, six armed inspectors of the Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau were trying to confiscate smuggled cigarettes and money from an elderly female vendor in a nightmarket in western Taipei (Yuanhuan). In the process, the inspectors hit the woman’s head and caused her to start bleeding. An angry crowd gathered round. After a stray warning shot fired by one of the inspectors killed an onlooker, the crowd pursued the inspectors to a nearby police station and surrounded it, demanding that the inspector be punished. However, their demands were not met. The news spread quickly. The next day, February 28, there were strikes in Taipei. Many shops did not open. Taipei citizens gathered and marched to the Taiwan Provincial Executive Office to express their grievances. Tragically, guards shot into the crowd and caused several causalities, thus inciting further resentment. As a result, a small incident turned into an island-wide anti-government movement and a clash between mainlanders and Taiwanese.

As the incident progressed, social leaders organized an emergency Incident Settlement Committee. They demanded comprehensive political reform. At this stage, Governor Chen Yi exaggerated the seriousness of the situation in his report to the central government in China. He accused the Taiwanese of organizing a “rebellion” and requested immediate backup forces.

On March 8^th, the troops from China arrived in Taiwan. They began forcefully suppressing the people of Taiwan, causing serious casualties. Further, they adopted a “village-purge” tactic, which included checking household registers, arresting “suspects,” seizing weapons and calling for “suspects” to turn themselves in. Many of the social elite were arrested, imprisoned and even murdered on trumped up charges. Thousands of innocent people lost their property or even their lives. This tragedy has ever since been a serious impediment to political development and social integration.

In recent years, the government has adopted a series of measures to heal the wounds of the 228 Incident.[1]

 

10-2 Politics after the Relocation of the Central Government

Relocation of the Central Government to Taiwan

The Republic of China had won the war against Japan, but now it faced civil war instigated by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The ROC government announced a general mobilization to suppress the communist rebellion. But the war did not go well. At the beginning of 1949, President Chiang Kai-shek was forced to step down. The ROC central government was losing the fight. The CCP occupied the whole of China. In December, 1949, the central government relocated to Taiwan, and in March 1950, Chiang Kai-shek resumed office. The government poured effort into consolidating defenses on Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matzu (Matsu). There were also political, economic, and social reforms.

 

Declaring and lifting martial law

In May, 1949, the Taiwan Garrison General Headquarters declared martial law on the pretext of protecting public security. Martial law restricted people’s freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of association for nearly forty years. It was resented by the public. Kinmen (Quemoy) and Matzu were even designated experimental areas of war zone administration. Military governance was implemented there. Freedoms, including the right to participate in politics, were severely limited, and residents were asked to form self-defense corps to assist the army in the event of combat.

In the late 1970s, various social movements arose and gathered momentum in the 1980s. Reformers demanded that martial law be lifted and constitutional government be restored. In July, 1987, President Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law. This act was followed in the next year by an end to restrictions on the press and on the formation of political parties. When Lee Teng-hui succeeded as president, he went on to abolish the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of National Mobilization for the Suppression of the Communist Rebellion.[2] The ROC Constitution was amended. All parliamentary members now had to be chosen through general election. Finally, direct elections were held for provincial governor, mayors of special municipalities, and then, in 1996, the President. This was a new milestone in the process of democratization.

 

Implementation and development of local self-governance

The first step towards self-governance was taken in 1946, when there were public representatives for urban townships, rural townships and urban districts, as well as direct elections for urban and rural villages and neighborhoods. As well, councils were established at the county and province levels. The councilors sitting on these councils were indirectly elected. In 1950, local self-governance was implemented on the county and city levels. Magistrates, mayors, and representatives were now directly elected.[3] Since 1954, the members of the provincial assembly have been directly elected by popular election. The provincial governor, on the other hand, was still centrally appointed after 1954.

By the late 1970s, many campaigns for political reform had emerged. More and more people demanded direct election for the provincial governor and a legal system for local self-governance. Two important laws were passed in 1994: the Self-Governance Law for Provinces and Counties, and the Municipal Self-Governance Law. At the end of 1994, the first elections for provincial governor and special municipality (Taipei and Kaohsiung) mayors were held. Taiwan finally enjoyed full local self-governance.

 

General election of public representatives in the central government; direct presidential election

Central government representatives serve in the National Assembly, the Legislative Yuan, and the Control Yuan. These representatives were frozen in office starting in 1947. In 1969, the government started to hold regular supplementary elections and by-elections for positions opened by retirement or death, but popular opinion favored regular direct election of all positions. Elections for all seats in the National Assembly and the Legislative Yuan were finally held in 1991 and 1992. Following the 1992 constitutional amendment, the Control Yuan was transformed into a semi-judicial institution. This step completed the transition: all public representatives in the central government now had to face regular elections.

The first to eighth presidents and vice- presidents of the ROC were elected by the National Assembly. But in 1995, the National Assembly passed legislation for direct election of president and vice- president. On March 23, 1996, the first direct election for president and vice- president was held. All eyes were on Taiwan as the election was held despite Chinese attempts to intimidate the people; China fired several missiles into the sea northeast of Taiwan. Lee Teng-hui and Lien Chan were elected as the ninth president and vice-president. The citizens of the ROC displayed determination in achieving democracy and earned accolades worldwide.

 

10-3 Diplomacy and cross-strait relations

Diplomatic developments

After the central government relocated to Taiwan, it took active diplomatic measures to safeguard the international position of the ROC. In the first period, the period of consolidation, the government policy was to increase formal diplomatic ties, “safeguard Taiwan and win back the mainland.” Upon the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950,[4] the US dispatched the Seventh Fleet to protect Taiwan and stop communism from spreading. In 1954, the US signed the Mutual Defense Treaty with the ROC, on the basis of which the US provided military and economic assistance to Taiwan for over a decade. Taiwan became part of the line of defense against communism in the western Pacific.

Though the Soviet Union proposed many times that ROC delegates in the United Nations (UN) be replaced by delegates from the People’s Republic of China (PRC), the ROC had enough friends among the powerful countries of the world, which repeatedly vetoed these proposals. For the time being, the legal position of the ROC in the UN was secure.

The second period was the stage of flexible diplomacy. In 1971, the PRC succeeded in gaining admission to the UN, forcing the ROC out. Many countries thereafter shifted their recognition of the legitimate government of “China” from the ROC to the PRC. Japan was the first to do so, in 1972. In 1979, the US also desided to sever diplomatic ties with the ROC, which happened in 1980. In addition, the Mutual Defense Treaty was scrapped. The ROC now faced international diplomatic isolation.

In response, the government adopted flexible diplomacy. The ROC’s first strategy was to build non-official ties with other countries. Offices serving essential functions in areas like economy, trade, culture, and technology were established in countries around the world. Second, the ROC maintained formal diplomatic ties with a small number of friendly countries. Third, the ROC tried to gain membership in international organizations. Fourth, the ROC held or participated in international conferences, in order to enhance visibility and facilitate cooperation with other countries. Non-governmental international exchanges have also been encouraged.

The third period has been the stage of pragmatic diplomacy. The new policy was adopted by Lee Teng-hui when he succeeded as president in 1988. From this time, the ROC has no longer insisted that it is the only legal government of China. Its position was now that China is one country divided into two areas. Both areas have governments and are ruled independently. Moreover, the ROC on Taiwan is a sovereign state. The ROC’s commitment to this position has allowed Taiwan to break the PRC’s diplomatic blockade by means of economic strength and maintain its international position.

On the basis of these pragmatic guidelines, Taiwan maintains full diplomatic relations with some countries, continues to establish diplomatic ties or substantially enhance relations with the rest of the world’s countries, and participates in various international organizations and activities. As a result, the ROC now has nearly thirty diplomatic allies and almost one hundred economic, trade and cultural offices have been established in more than sixty countries. Finally, the ROC has joined more than eight hundred international organizations.

 

Evolution of cross-strait relations

Over more than four decades, the cross-strait relationship has gradually changed from military confrontation to peaceful negotiation. Since the ROC central government relocated to Taiwan, the CCP has tried several times to seize Taiwan by force. Kinmen and Matsu stood at the front line of defense and endured battles like the Kuningtou Battle in Kinmen in 1949 and the Battle of the Taiwan Strait in 1958. The troops of ROC tenaciously defended Taiwan against the communist troops.

In 1979, the PRC adopted a new approach of peaceful reunification by promoting the “Three Links and Four Exchanges.” The “Three Links” refers to direct trade, direct transportation, and direct communication (direct postal delivery). The “Four Exchanges” are in the following areas: economy, culture, technology and sports. The PRC announced these guidelines and proposed the “one country, two systems” formula to further peaceful reunification, but it has refused to renounce the use of military force. The ROC has responded to this challenge with the principle of “Reunification According to the Three Principles of the People.” Moreover, the ROC has declared a “Three Nos Policy”: no contact, no negotiation, and no compromise.

With the lifting of martial law in 1987, the government adopted a more pragmatic policy towards China. In 1988, citizens were allowed to visit their relatives in China. Cultural exchange and indirect trade were also permitted. In 1990, the government established the National Unification Council under the Office of the President. In 1991, the Executive Yuan set up the Mainland Affairs Council, and the government announced the Guidelines for National Unification, ending the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the Communist Rebellion. The policy at this time was to pass through stages of “exchange based on mutual benefit,” “mutual trust and cooperation” and “negotiation and communication” along the way to unification. However, since 1991 the PRC has refused to acknowledge that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are under separate rule, and has insisted upon its “one country, two systems” policy. A breakthrough in cross-strait relations has yet to be achieved.