When Taiwan shook off the yoke of Japanese colonialism in 1945, it ignited great expectations about a "return to the fatherland." No one was expecting anything like the February 28 Incident to erupt just two years later. The incident, with its tangled web of political, class and ethnic ramifications, threw society in Taiwan into a state of high anxiety, and raised doubts about the legitimacy of KMT rule.

"In that era, how many mothers spent long nights crying for their children imprisoned on this island!" These words are found on the Green Island Human Rights Memorial, which was established on December 10 (International Human Rights Day) in 1999. The monument both conveys the deep pain of that era and serves as a milestone of human rights progress in Taiwan.

A world record for martial law

At the end of 1948, the civil war between the Nationalists and Communists had reached a crisis point, and Chiang Kai-shek declared a state of martial law throughout most of mainland China. Then on May 20, 1949, before Chiang moved to Taiwan, the Taiwan provincial governor and garrison commander Chen Cheng announced a state of martial law in Taiwan. At that point Taiwan entered into a dark political age that would last for 38 years. It wasn't until 1987 that President Chiang Ching-kuo declared the end of martial law. It was the longest run of martial law in world history.

President Chen pointed out that martial law brought with it "four mountains and four shackles," as well as a "greater-China ideology," "a personality cult for the ruling Chiang family," a "party-state system" and the "white terror." The era of martial law placed restrictions on the creation of political parties, the number and content of newspapers, and even the length of students' hair. It abridged people's rights to assemble and parade, or to travel and move funds abroad, and it allowed the government to filter "suspicious mail," whether domestic or international. There were only three television stations (TTV, CTV, and CTS), and the content and times of their news reports were identical....

With the implementation of martial law, state power suddenly swelled, and citizens' rights commensurately shrank. It totally changed the relationship between the people and the state, giving the authorities unjust and unreasonable powers in the name of the national interest.

The worst aspect of this was the "white terror." For instance, Article 4 of the Emergency Decree describes ten capital offenses that could be interpreted to include a wide range of behavior, including "spreading rumors," "inciting riots," "disturbing the public order through labor or shopkeeper strikes," and "instigating student unrest." Because the definitions were so unclear, people were essentially being sent into a minefield, never knowing when a wrong move might lead to their downfall. They lived in a constant state of fear, essentially internalizing the oppressive nature of the Taiwan Garrison Command. Everyone became a prisoner of the martial law system. And those who might have posed the greatest challenge to the government--including figures from politics, academia and the media--were special targets of intimidation.

White terror

Apart from well-known cases such as General Sun Li-jen and Lei Chen, writers Po Yang and Li Ao, broadcaster Tsui Hsiao-ping, political activist Yu Teng-fa, and the grisly murder of the mother and daughters of Lin Yi-hsiung (then imprisoned following the Formosa Incident), there were innumerable imprisonments and injustices large and small. For instance, in 1958 when American military personnel shot KMT Major Liu Tsu-jan, it naturally stirred up anti-American demonstrations. Lin Chen-ting, a journalist who reported at the scene, was charged with "inciting the public" and secretly sentenced to prison, spending 25 years on Green Island. Another man, Pai Ya-tsan, was sentenced to life imprisonment and incarcerated for13 years for distributing leaflets critical of Chiang Ching-kuo.

These were everyday occurrences. According to figures compiled by former legislator Hsieh Tsung-min, from the 1950s until the lifting of martial law there were 29,000 cases of "white terror" in Taiwan, involving as many as 140,000 people, including 3-4000 poor souls who were executed. It left huge wounds in society.

Apart from using strict laws and harsh punishments to accomplish the two goals of "deifying the dictator" and "keeping the people ignorant," the authorities also employed a false nationalistic logic of "security," "stability," "harmony" and "development" to keep the people in a state of brainwashed ignorance, so that they wouldn't struggle for political rights. For 50 years there was a distorted situation of one party--the KMT--holding total power.

Wealthy island, empty heart

Taiwan's undeniably outstanding economic performance effectively forestalled dissatisfaction, as people threw themselves into making money. The high economic growth of the 1980s strengthened this mindless authoritarianism. Some scholars bolstered the regime, arguing that "only 3% of martial law prohibitions are enforced, and these don't affect ordinary people in their everyday lives; to the contrary, they are beneficial to national stability and development."

Yet prosperity didn't meet the needs of people's hearts and souls; it only allowed them to splurge on a debased consumerism, such as supplied by the nightlife industry. More and more people played the numbers, and later on speculated in the stock and real estate markets. From the various negative descriptions that Taiwan acquired in the international community--including "island of greed" and even "pigsty"--one can see how people lacked a healthy release for their energies.

To take this analysis a step farther, because the truth was twisted or withheld from society for so many years, people had limited abilities to think and make judgments for themselves. Civil society in Taiwan has still not emerged, and people still have a poor sense of values, with concern only for utility and not for principle. These social ills are the legacy of martial law.

Yearning to be free

On October 7, 1986, Chiang Ching-kuo met with Katherine Graham, the publisher of The Washington Post, and let it slip that a lifting of martial law was in the works. The following year, on July 15, the Legislative Yuan passed the National Security Act. On the same day the martial law restrictions for Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, as well as 30 related laws, were formally abolished, thus writing a preface to the annals of Taiwanese democracy.

For Taiwan, the main significance of lifting martial law was in giving people the freedom to think about and find value in life for themselves. It was on that that day that the Taiwanese finally had the possibility of becoming "free people" in the philosophical sense.

In the first year after the lifting of martial law, society's pent-up energy surged forth, with one social justice movement after another rearing its head. There were constant street demonstrations. In 1988, there was the May 20th farmers movement. In 1989, the "snails without shells" demonstration for affordable housing was staged on Chunghsiao East Road; and democracy activist Cheng Nan-jung, arguing that there could be no limits placed on freedom of speech, set himself on fire. In 1990 there was the "wild lilies" student movement, and a record was set with more than 2000 street demonstrations in a single year.

At the time some people were alarmed by this "social unrest" and in particular the sight of black barbed-wire barricades in the Po-ai district of Taipei, where the Presidential Palace and many other central government buildings are located. But in fact these demonstrations bore witness to Taiwan becoming more tolerant and respectful of a variety of opinions after its initial baptism as a democracy. Whereas in earlier days street demonstrations were characterized by a very tense atmosphere, now there was more of a sense of them being "family entertainment." Criticism of everyday politics has become equally lively, and star commentators can now voice their opinions freely without fearing imprisonment.

Democracy still requires hard work

Of course, shaking off the shackles of martial law could not be accomplished all at once. Rather it has required a long and involved political process.

In 1991, the Legislative Yuan ended the "Period of Mobilization for the Suppression of Communist Rebellion," and in 1992 it amended Article 100 of the Penal Code, which had outlawed "seditious speech." Then new elections were held for all seats in the Legislative Yuan, giving Taiwan a truly democratic legislature. In 1994 direct elections were held for the mayors of Taipei and Kaohsiung and for the provincial governor of Taiwan. In 1995 the February 28 Memorial was unveiled, and then-President Lee Teng-hui offered a formal government apology to all of the 228 victims and their families. In 1996 the US organization Freedom House listed Taiwan as a democratic nation for the first time.

In 2000, there was peaceful transfer of power between political parties for the first time ever in a Chinese society, and in 2004 a referendum was held for the first time. Democracy has been growing stronger and stronger in Taiwan; there is no going back.

Reflecting upon the lifting of martial law, President Chen noted that martial law had been imposed for 38 years and has been lifted for only 20: No matter how you slice it, Taiwan's democracy is young. Looking to future government policy, he mentioned two core values--"insistence on a Taiwan-centric consciousness" and "achieving social justice"--that would allow the people of Taiwan "both to be our own masters and to know how to be our own masters."

The February 28 Incident virtually destroyed Taiwan's vitality 60 years ago. Now, we look back at it seeking reconciliation and rebirth, and existential meaning for Taiwan. The lifting of martial law 20 years ago has been a key to Taiwan's revival. The 20th anniversary of the lifting of martial law is meaningful for Taiwan as it seeks to find its values in freedom and democracy. These two events loom equally large in their significance. Taking a detailed, honest look at this period of transition will only bolster our confidence and determination as we march toward a bright future.