White Terror (Taiwan)

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White Terror (Taiwan)
Part of Chinese Civil War, retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan, and Cold War
The Horrifying Inspection by Taiwanese printmaker Huang Rong-can. It describes the hostile environment in Taiwan shortly after the 28 February incident, which marked the start of the White Terror period.
Location	Taiwan and other ROC-controlled islands
Date	1947–1987
Target	Political dissidents, including leftists, liberals, independence activists, and intellectuals
Attack type	Politicide, mass murder, political repression, police state
Deaths	At least 3,000 to 4,000 executed, not including the 228 incident (18,000 to 28,000 killed) or extrajudicial executions[1]
Victims	At least 140,000 imprisoned
Perpetrators	Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) under the Kuomintang (KMT)
Motive	Consolidate rule over Taiwan after retreat from mainland China

Part of a series on
White Terror in Taiwan
Background Chinese Civil War February 28 incident Great Retreat Martial law
Policies Anti-communism Anti-PRC Anti-Taiwan independence Chiangism Chinese nationalism Cultural policy Language policy Dang Guo
Incident 1987 Lieyu massacre July 13 Penghu incident Kaohsiung Incident May 24 incident "Temporary Provisions"
Individual victims Chen Chih-hsiung Lei Chen Lin Yi-hsiung Mao Renfeng Sun Li-jen Ting Yao-tiao Uyongʉ Yata'uyungana
Memorials 228 Peace Memorial Park Green Island Human Rights Culture Park Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park National Human Rights Museum Tianma Tea House
Related topics Anti-communist mass killings Chinese imperialism "Communist bandit" Cultural genocide "Green Terror" History of Taiwan (1945–present) Political cleansing of population Right-wing dictatorship
Taiwan portal
v t e

The White Terror (Chinese: 白色恐怖; pinyin: Báisè Kǒngbù; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pe̍h-sek Khióng-pò͘) was the political repression of Taiwanese civilians and political dissenters under the government ruled by the Kuomintang (KMT).^[2] The period of White Terror is generally considered to have begun when martial law was declared in Taiwan on 19 May 1949, which was 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, allowing for the prosecution of "anti-state" activities. The Temporary Provisions had been repealed a year earlier on 22 April 1991. Martial law had been lifted on 15 July 1987.^[3][4]

Two years after the 28 February 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 communists.^[5] Others targeted included Taiwanese locals and indigenous peoples who participated in the 28 February incident, such as Uyongʉ Yata'uyungana, and those accused of dissidence for criticizing the government.^[6]

The KMT carried out persecutions against those who criticized or opposed the government, accusing them of attempting to subvert the regime, while dramatically expanding the scope of punishment throughout this period.^[7] It made use of the Taiwan Garrison Command (TGC), a secret police, as well as other intelligence units by enacting special criminal laws as tools for the government to purge dissidents.^[8] Basic human rights and the right to privacy were disregarded, with mass pervasive monitoring of the people, filings of sham criminal cases against anyone suspected of being a dissident, as well as labelling any individuals who did not conform to a pro-regime stance as being communist spies, often without merit.^[9] Others were labeled as Taiwanese separatists and prosecuted for treason.^[10] It is estimated that about 3,000 to 4,000 civilians were executed by the government during the White Terror.^[1] The government was also suspected of carrying out extrajudicial killings against exiles in other countries.^[a]

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