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1945~1949: Turbulent Times1945~1949: Turbulent Times

• Outline：– Taiwanese’ attitude towards Taiwan’s Recovery and the

KMT regime– Problems of KMT’s coming to Taiwan– Obstacles to Taiwanese elites’ under the KMT rule– Social and economical instability– The 228 incident

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Taiwanese’ attitude towards Taiwan’s Recovery

• Under the Japanese rule, Taiwanese were only second-class citizens. Hence many Taiwanese had high expectation toward the reunion with China (ROC under the KMT’s rule)

• However, the KMT regime did not anticipate such a sudden end of WWII, and was not prepared to take over Taiwan.

• Besides, to the KMT government, Taiwan was just like other returned territories with no specialty. So no particular care was paid to Taiwan.

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Problems of KMT’s coming to Taiwan

• The troops sent to Tawian was in ragged clothes and disordered, not like the neat and ordered Japanese army. This caused great disappointment.

• After 50 years of colonization, the Taiwanese way of life had been somewhat “Japanized”. But it was very difficult for the mainlanders who had fought the Japanese for eight years to accept the Japanese legacy on Taiwan.

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• Apart form their mother tongues (eg. Taiwanese, Hakka…), Taiwanese could only learn Japanese during the colonization. A Big problem for communication with the mainlanders.

• Though the Japanese officials were strict, they were clean-handed. In contrast, KMT many officials were corrupted.

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Obstacles to Taiwanese elites’ under the KMT rule

• The KMT officials’ did not match the Taiwanese’ expectation. This upset Taiwanese elites who wanted to enter politics.

• The few Taiwanese in the ruling group were those who had entered the regime in mainland. Though they served as bridge between mainlanders and Taiwanese, their presence also restricted chances for local elites.

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Social and economical instability

• With the end of WWII, 300,000 Taiwanese soldiers (who had served in the Japanese army) were sent back to Taiwan facing unemployment.

• Food production was way behind need. Industrial production reduced to ¼ of the 1943 level. In just two years, the Inflation rate was an amazing 900%.

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• Emergency policies were implemented, but the mainlander officials could not communicate with the locals.

• Lack for the police power, it was difficult to stop the merchants from stocking up.

• Food and necessities were in shortage. Money couldn’t buy anything. People were in anger and desperation. Anti-government violence was on the verge of breaking out.

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The 228 incident

• The flashpoint came on February 27, 1947 in Taipei when a dispute between a female vendor of smuggling cigarette and an officer of the Bureau of Monopoly occurred. The officer hit the woman with a gun.

• This triggered huge anger. As the crowd intended to attack the officer, the officer fired and kill one man.

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• Violent conflicts between Mainlanders and Taiwanese broke out and last for several weeks.

• Finally the island-wide violence was suppressed with armed violence by the Nationalist Army sent from Mainland China.

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Angry crowd burned a Taipei police station in the morning of 28 February, 1947

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Taipei Branch of the Bureau of Monopoly.

Occupied by angry crowd.

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One of the many victims.

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After the “successful” oppression, Chung-xi Bai, then the ROC’s Minister of Defense, visited Taiwan.

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The 228 monument as it is now at the 228 Peace Park in Taipei.

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• The 228 incident have been widely regarded as the major source of Taiwan’s inter-ethnic cleavage from that time on.

• Both Taiwanese and Mainlanders were victims in the 228 incident.

• Although many people have left the sorrow behind and live in total peace and harmony with each other, some politicians still manipulate this inter-ethnic issue in recent elections.

- very irresponsible and unsympathetic