Taiwan: Chiang Kai-Shek, The White Terror, Transitional Justice, and Transnational Repression

Erin Jamison

Law Student, Mitchell Hamline School of Law, Fall 2022

Map of Taiwan
Source: The World Factbook 2021. Washington, DC: Central Intelligence Agency, 2021. Public Image

INTRODUCTION

Taiwan, an island nation situated off the coast of China, is renowned for its natural beauty, vibrant culture, and thriving industrial sector. However, Taiwan has endured significant challenges throughout the 20th century, beginning with Japanese colonial domination, followed by Chiang Kai-Shek’s authoritarian regime and martial law, and currently facing the threat of forcible unification from mainland China, one of the world’s superpowers.

BRIEF POLITICAL HISTORY

In 1928, Chiang Kai-Shek and the Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang or KMT) assumed power over mainland China, albeit tenuously. Chiang and the KMT’s central authority were challenged by regional warlords, who still retained de facto autonomy, and by the Chinese Communist Party, which had established its own army and government. Japan had also seized the northeastern region of Manchuria and was set to invade the rest of China.

Chiang was determined to vanquish the internal communist threat before confronting the Japanese invasion, a decision that ultimately contributed to his downfall. China and Japan were at war since 1937, and China was fighting alone for four years until it was joined by the allies in World War II.

Following Japan’s surrender in 1945, a civil war broke out in 1946 between the KMT and the Communist Party. In 1949, Mao Zedong’s Communist Party defeated Chiang Kai-Shek’s KMT, leading to the establishment of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Chiang Kai-Shek, his party, and thousands of refugees from mainland China fled to Taiwan.[1]

Taiwan had been under Japanese colonial rule since 1895. In the 1920s, the colonial government began assimilation techniques to introduce Japanese laws and institutions into Taiwan. Taiwanese people were required to learn Japanese and were allowed to study at Japanese universities and be elected to local councils. When the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out in 1937, approximately 20,000 Taiwanese were conscripted to fight for Japan against mainland China and later against the Allies in World War II. During this period, 1,200 to 2,000 Taiwanese women were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese military.[2]

When Japan surrendered to the Allies in 1945, Taiwan came under the rule of Chiang Kai-Shek and the Nationalist Party after an agreement at the Cairo Conference in 1943.[3] Taiwanese people were initially elated and relieved to join China. However, this sentiment was short-lived under the KMT’s governance.[4]

THE NATIONALIST PARTY

The KMT governed all or part of mainland China from 1928 to 1949. It was founded by Song Jiaoren in 1912, and after Song was assassinated in 1913, Sun Yat-Sen led the party until his death in 1925 when Chiang Kai-Shek, the most powerful of Sun’s proteges, took over. During their control of mainland China, the party upheld Sun Yat-Sen’s “Three Principles of the People:” Nationalism, Democracy, and Socialism (or the people’s livelihood). The party failed to achieve success in any of these areas during its reign, which contributed to its downfall.[5]

THE 228 INCIDENT

The 228 Incident, which occurred on February 28th, 1947, marked the beginning of a period known as the “White Terror.” This period involved the mass suppression, murder, and imprisonment of political dissidents and anyone perceived as a threat to the KMT’s rule.[6]

The incident began on the night of February 27th, 1947, when agents from the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau attempted to confiscate contraband cigarettes from a woman selling them in Taipei (the capital of Taiwan). When the woman asked for the return of her cigarettes and confiscated money, one of the agents struck her on the head with his pistol. This violent act caused an angry crowd to form, confronting the agents for their use of force. As they fled, one of the agents fired into the crowd, killing a bystander. The incident, coupled with growing unrest due to inflation, government corruption, and rising unemployment rates, led to mass protests on February 28th. When the crowd gathered outside the Governor-General’s office, his guards opened fire on the protestors without warning. This event led to an open rebellion that lasted for weeks and resulted in thousands of deaths.

THE WHITE TERROR: 1947 TO 1987

Following the 228 Incident in February 1947, a violent crackdown on the uprising began the following month. KMT reinforcements arrived, and Governor-General Chen Yi ordered the imprisonment and execution of any Taiwanese organizers he could find, resulting in the deaths of 3,000 to 4,000 people.[7] The KMT’s army reportedly fired upon unarmed civilians in an attempt to instill fear and restore order. Soldiers committed acts of rape, beheadings, and summary executions. Students who had helped maintain order during the riots were tricked into turning themselves in and were imprisoned or executed. Dissidents disappeared without a trace. One disturbing account described prisoners being tied together by the hands and walked to a river. The first prisoner was shot and fell into the river, pulling the others into the water to drown. This was described as a way to save on bullets.[8] The White Terror claimed the lives of an estimated 18,000 to 28,000 Taiwanese people, including many of the country’s social elites and intellectuals who had advocated for political reforms.

In 1949, Chiang Kai-Shek imposed martial law on the Republic of China (ROC). Li Zongren, acting president of the ROC, declared martial law in effect in Taiwan on May 19, 1949. During this period, the only political party allowed was the KMT, and human rights and free speech were suspended. Civilians were tried in military courts, and there was no freedom of expression as harsh censorship was in effect. The secret police, Taiwan Garrison Command, arrested anyone who was critical of the government, and all dissidents were blacklisted.[9]

During this period, the government favored people who had come from mainland China over the Taiwanese people. The KMT appointed mainland Chinese people into most positions of power and made policies that favored mainland Chinese people to prop up their own rule. At the time, Taiwan’s education was mainly Japanese-centric due to the Japanese colonial rule that had preceded the KMT’s rule. This led to the KMT re-educating the Taiwanese people as Chinese. The history in schools became Chinese-focused, people were forced to speak Mandarin, and Chinese pedagogy was introduced. Furthermore, the KMT renamed streets and public spaces to reflect Chinese culture and reinforce Taiwan’s status as part of China under KMT rule. When the government or the secret police came to arrest people, they were often accused of being Japanese sympathizers or communists attempting to overthrow the government.[10]

One man, Fred Chin, came to Taiwan in 1967 to study and somehow attracted the attention of the secret police in 1971. It is unclear why he was targeted. He was accused of bombing a U.S. government office in Taiwan in 1970 and working for the Communist Party as a spy conspiring to overthrow the government in Taipei. According to Chin, there was no evidence, so the secret police tortured him until he confessed his crimes. He was punched by guards, forced to drink his own blood, and hung upside down while they poured salty water into his mouth. He was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Chin stated that the prisoners were treated “like animals.” Chin was just one of up to 200,000 people imprisoned during the White Terror.[11]

Another individual, Annette Lu, was sentenced to 12 years in prison for speaking out against the government at a human rights parade in Kaohsiung City in 1979. Speaking to a crowd of 80,000 people, she witnessed soldiers and police fire tear gas into the crowd. She was released after five and a half years in prison and ultimately became Taiwan’s first female vice president.[12]

It wasn’t just local Taiwanese people getting arrested and executed. On October 15th, 1985, an American Chinese-language journalist, Henry Liu, who had been critical of the Taiwanese regime, was killed in his garage in Daly City, California. The killers, three men from Taiwan, were sent by high-ranking intelligence officers in the Taiwanese government, who had labeled Liu as a communist. They were told that the murder would be an act of patriotism. However, it was later discovered that Liu was actually a liberal critic of the KMT and not a communist. This assassination destabilized the government in Taiwan, damaged the reputation of Chiang Hsiao-Wu, the second son of then-President Chiang Ching-Kuo, and raised concerns about the succession of power in Taiwan.[13] It also strained the relationship between Taiwan and the US.

THE AFTERMATH OF THE WHITE TERROR

The people of Taiwan slowly began to break down the restrictions of martial law, especially after Chiang Kai-Shek’s death in 1975. In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was established, and martial law was lifted in 1987. However, there were still restrictions such as limited freedom of assembly after the National Security Law was passed.[14] There were also restrictions about the 228 Incident because the government classified all records related to the massacre as “Top Secret.” Just discussing the 228 incident was considered taboo. After 48 years, the 228 Incident was finally acknowledged in 1995 by then-President Lee Teng-Hui, a victim of the 228 Incident, who issued a formal apology on the government’s behalf. February 28^th was declared a national holiday, the Peace Memorial Day, to honor the victims of the 228 Incident. In 2017, President Tsai Ing-Wen announced the declassification of the historical records relating to the Incident and ordered an investigation into the events surrounding it.[15]

White Terror Victims Memorial, Taipei City, Taiwan
Image by rheins. Attribution 3.0 Unported (CC BY 3.0). License.

However, the road to justice was not an easy one. The KMT still retained power after Taiwan’s democratization by winning the 1996 Presidential election and maintaining a legislative majority. The KMT held power for another 20 years, so efforts at transitional justice were largely curtailed. Three laws were passed in 1995 and 1998, but they had a limited scope, and none sought to place blame on the KMT for its actions. The Act Governing the Recovery of Damage to Individual Rights during the Period of Martial Law in 1995 gave compensation to people who could prove that they were forced to confess, as well as restoring property and rights. The February 28 Incident Disposition and Compensation Act of 1995 was limited to victims of the 229 Incident. The third law, The Compensation for Wrongful Trials on Charges of Sedition and Espionage during the Martial Law Period, provided compensation for people who were wrongfully tried on charges of espionage and sedition. Since the passage of these laws, compensation totaling $72 billion NTD has been given for the 228 Incident and $194 billion for the White Terror. However, these payments were not reparations but mere compensation, demonstrating that the KMT did not want to acknowledge any wrongdoing on the part of the party or its members during this period.

TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE ACT AND THE TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE COMMISSION

In 2018, Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan passed the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice to address injustices perpetrated by the KMT between the Japanese surrender in August of 1945 to November 1992. The Act created a nine-member committee to investigate the facts of the White Terror Era. The Act stated that the commission would also address the ill-gotten political party assets not already covered by the Act Governing the Handling of Ill-gotten Properties by Political Parties and Their Affiliate Organizations. The Act stated that data unconstitutionally seized during the White Terror Era was to be collated and archived. This data would be made available for research and educational purposes, with protection for the privacy and freedom of communication of the individuals mentioned in the data. Symbols of the White Terror Era that were publicly displayed were to be removed, renamed, or addressed by some other means as a way of upholding Taiwan’s free and democratic system. People who were wrongfully convicted or unjustly adjudicated by the commission would be granted a retrial. People responsible for these unjust trials were to be held accountable and required to compensate defendants and their families. Political parties, their organizations they operate, and their affiliates are to report to the commission any political files in their possession to be transferred to the government and archived, with hefty fines levied against those who do not. People found guilty of sabotaging, concealing, or disposing of political data could face up to five years in prison.[16]

President Tsi Ing-Wen stated that the first mission of the Transitional Justice Commission (TJC) was to issue an accurate report of the period of authoritarianism under the KMT regime. The commission’s Chairman, Huang Huang-hsiung, stated that the commission aimed to uncover the facts of the White Terror Era, not settling old scores and inciting hostility. The goal of the commission’s report was to ensure accountability and to make sure that justice was served so that the integration of various ethnic groups could be achieved.[17]

In May of 2018, the TJC exonerated 1,270 individuals who had been the victims of the White terror purges. Most of those pardoned had already passed away, but they were given a “restoration of honor” certificate, and compensation was paid to some of the families.[18] In December 2018, the TJC exonerated 1,505 people who were unjustly convicted in the aftermath of the 228 Incident, most of whom were very young when they were convicted and 27 of whom were Aborigines.[19] Again, in February 2019, the commission exonerated 1056 people who were killed or unjustly convicted during the White Terror Era[20] and in May 2019 2,006 political persecution victims were exonerated by the commission. The fourth set of exonerations made by the Transitional Justice Commission includes individuals unjustly convicted for their involvement in Formosa Magazine, a pro-democracy publication launched in 1979. Among those were former Vice President Annette Hsiu-lien Lu, Secretary-General to the President Chen Chu and Shih Ming-teh, ex-chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party. Also included was the late campaigner and writer Lei Chen, who started a magazine promoting democracy and freedom in 1949. Almost 6,000 victims of political persecution have had their convictions overturned since the creation of the TJC in 2018.[21]

By August 2020, 54 organizations had either completed or were in the process of removing statues and other symbols of the White Terror Era from public spaces, following regulations set by the TJC. In addition to removing icons of the White Terror Era, statues and portraits of Chiang Kai-Shek and Chiang Ching-Kuo have also been taken down. Platforms and buildings bearing their names were renamed. While this effort was not comprehensive in removing all symbols of authoritarian rule, it was a step in the right direction.[22] The push for transitional justice even included a call for the transformation of Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, which is one of the most iconic tourist attractions in Taiwan.

The TJC investigated the death of a Carnegie Mellon University assistant professor, Chen Wen-chen, who was found dead inside the library of National Taiwan University in Taipei in 1981. The Taiwan Garrison Command had questioned him for over 12 hours the day before. The TJC stated that Chen and his family had been under close surveillance before his death and the government continued to monitor his family afterward. The KMT had begun monitoring him on September 30, 1979, when police intercepted a call between Chen and a democracy advocate named Shih Ming-te. The KMT had also been monitoring Chen and his family in the US as well. The commission found that Chen’s body had been staged to look like he had jumped from an upper floor of a campus building, but it was highly likely that he was murdered somewhere else and thrown from the building. The commission also stated that the government had impeded his family’s quest for the truth about his death. As of 2020, a conclusion to the investigation had not been reached.[23]

The TJC also looked into the extent of the KMT’s surveillance during the White Terror period and beyond. The commission presented a batch of records from the KMT showing abuses of power and violations of human rights going to the year 2000. The records were mainly of citizens targeted by the KMT. These people and their families were suspected of being political dissidents and communist sympathizers during the White Terror Era. The records showed that the KMT monitored entire families even after the victim was imprisoned or executed. The records indicated that the KMT had placed 15,000 citizens under surveillance in one year, 8,000 in another year, and 7,000 after that, up until the election of the DPP’s candidate, Chen Shui-Bian, as president in 2000. The KMT’s surveillance network consisted of the Taiwan Provincial Police Division, the Taiwan Garrison Command, the Ministry of Justice’s Investigation Bureau, the Political Warfare Bureau, and the KMT Central Committee’s mainland China affairs department.[24]

The TJC also unearthed declassified files of the Taiwan Garrison Command showing that the KMT was linked with gangs. Several members of the Bamboo Union Gang held important ministry positions, as well as positions within the military, police, and intelligence services. Apparently, the KMT knew about and allowed members of the Bamboo Union and other organized crime gangs to occupy positions within Taiwan’s law-enforcement agencies and secret services since the 1960s, including the National Security Bureau (NSB), Taiwan’s top intelligence agency. Gang members were the NSB’s official representatives in the US as well as Singapore.[25]

According to the TJC, Chiang Kai-Shek himself participated in more than 4000 political trials during the White Terror period. Political trials and brutal suppression peaked in the 1950s.[26]

The commission made great strides in its search for the facts. However, their efforts were constantly hindered by the KMT, which remains a potent force in Taiwan as the country’s second-largest political party and the wealthiest one.[27] As of 2016, the Kuomintang party held a vast amount of assets, totaling over USD $640 million. This made it not only the wealthiest political party in Taiwan but also one of the richest political parties in Asia.[28]

As of February 24, 2022, the TJC was scheduled to disband in May of 2022. The Executive Yuan approved a plan to allow the government to continue promoting transitional justice and human rights in Taiwan.[29]

CURRENT HUMAN RIGHTS STATUS IN TAIWAN

In 2022, Taiwan concluded the third independent review by United Nations experts of its compliance with international human rights standards. It was tailored to Taiwan’s status as a non-member state of the U.N. that has incorporated several important U.N. human rights conventions into its domestic law, even though it is not recognized. The review acknowledged the steps Taiwan made to comply with international standards. However, there were still issues with the death penalty, torture, gender equality, discrimination, the status of indigenous peoples, and the rights of migrant domestic workers. The review recommended that Taiwan complete the process of incorporating the Convention Against Torture, the Convention Against Migrant Workers, and the Convention on Enforced Disappearances into its Domestic Law.[30] Taiwan has made several strides toward improving their human rights standards, but several areas remain where it can continue to improve.

TAIWAN’S TUMULTUOUS RELATIONSHIP WITH MAINLAND CHINA AND
TRANSNATIONAL REPRESSION

Aside from Taiwan’s issues with transitional justice, Taiwan is also staring down the barrel of transnational repression perpetrated by the global superpower that is mainland China. Transnational repression occurs when governments reach across their borders to silence dissent among the diasporas and the exiles, including through assassinations, illegal deportations, abductions, digital threats, Interpol abuse, and family intimidation. It is a daily assault on civilians everywhere, including in democracies like the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, and South Africa.[31]

China has done this to Taiwan on a global scale. China sees the self-ruled island as a part of its territory and insists it should be unified with the mainland, by force if necessary. But Taiwan sees itself as distinct from the mainland.[32] Under threat from China, only 13 states and Vatican City recognize Taiwan as a sovereign nation as of April 2022.[33] Even actor and former professional wrestler John Cena had to make an official apology in Chinese on social media after facing severe pressure from China for calling Taiwan its own country during the promotion of the film Fast and Furious 9.[34] Mars Wrigley, the parent company of Snickers, issued an apology on the Chinese social media platform Weibo after angering China over an advertisement for a limited-edition candy bar introduced in Taiwan, Malaysia, and South Korea. The advertisement referred to all three nations as “countries,” which was seen as implying support for Taiwan’s independence.[35]

The PRC’s current leader, Xi Jinping, has stated that he will unify China and Taiwan, by force if necessary. China’s threatening behavior has increased in recent times. Chinese officials have stated repeatedly that the entirety of the Taiwan Strait belongs to China. Chinese warplanes violate Taiwan’s Air Defense Identification Zone regularly. During U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi’s visit in 2022, China shot missiles over Taiwan and surrounded it with warships during a military exercise. This was seen as a hint of a future blockade. This would be a major issue for Taiwan since almost all of its energy is imported.

War between China and Taiwan would have serious ramifications worldwide. The Chinese Communist Party could be either destabilized or emboldened. This would also have huge implications for the US. Trade between the US and China would be disrupted, causing a major shock to the global economy that is exponentially greater than the one caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The United States could be brought into its first direct military conflict with a nuclear superpower.[36]

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has warned that Australians are “living in dangerous times” because of potential instability in the Indo-Pacific region, and there is a real risk that China will take military action against Taiwan. Mr. Rudd argued the next five years are critical and will arguably determine the future stability of the region. “If we fail to navigate the next five years carefully, there is a grave risk that by the late 2020s and the early ‘30s, we could well find ourselves on the cusp of armed conflict.” Rudd also stated, “It is easy to use the term ‘armed conflict’. But when we begin to imagine the scope of a possible war between China and the United States over Taiwan, the strategic, economic, and human cost of such a conflagration is likely to be of an order of magnitude not seen since the Second World War.”[37]

CONCLUSION

Taiwan has a tumultuous history, marked by colonialism, authoritarianism, and now, the threat of war. The island nation has endured many challenges, from Japanese colonial rule to the oppressive White Terror Era, when thousands of dissidents were executed and imprisoned. Despite the challenges, Taiwan has made significant progress in addressing the KMT’s numerous atrocities during the White Terror Era and restoring justice to the regime’s victims, survivors, and their families.

However, Taiwan’s current situation is fraught with danger. As China’s economy and military power have grown, so has China’s assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific region. China has repeatedly stated that it considers Taiwan a part of its territory and threatens the use of force to bring the island under its control. The risk of a military conflict between China and Taiwan is a real and growing concern. The two sides have engaged in a dangerous game of chicken, with both sides making provocative moves that could easily escalate into war. If conflict were to break out, the consequences could be catastrophic for the region and the world.

[1] Tikkanen, A. (2022) Chiang Kai-shek, Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chiang-Kai-shek (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[2] Nien-Chung, Chiang-Liao and Yu-Jie Chen (2019) Transitional justice in Taiwan: Changes and challenges, Washington International Law Journal. Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1816&context=wilj (Accessed: November 22, 2022).

[3] Greitens, S.C. (2016) Organizing coercion in Taiwan (Chapter 3) – dictators and their secret police, Cambridge Core. Cambridge University Press. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abs/dictators-and-their-secret-police/organizing-coercion-in-taiwan/889298E7756FCBA8E97BC0B59717BDFE (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[4] Nien-Chung, Chiang-Liao and Yu-Jie Chen (2019) Transitional justice in Taiwan: Changes and challenges, Washington International Law Journal. Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uw.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1816&context=wilj (Accessed: November 22, 2022).

[5] Nationalist Party (no date) Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Nationalist-Party-Chinese-political-party (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[6] Taiwan’s White Terror: Remembering the 228 incident (2017) Foreign Policy Research Institute. Available at: https://www.fpri.org/article/2017/02/taiwans-white-terror-remembering-228-incident/ (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[7] Id.

[8] Wang, A. and Yu, A. (2021) “Massacres and Cover-ups Part 1,” Hearts in Taiwan.

[9] Martial law (2022) OFTaiwan. Available at: https://oftaiwan.org/history/white-terror/martial-law/ (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[10]Wang, A. and Yu, A. (2021) “Massacres and Cover-ups Part 1,” Hearts in Taiwan.

[11] Cheung, E., Tsai, G. and Ripley, W. (2022) Why a decades-old deadly crackdown on democracy is becoming more important for Taiwan Today, CNN. Cable News Network. Available at: https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/28/asia/taiwan-228-democracy-intl-hnk-dst/index.html (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[12] Id.

[13] Rooted in Taiwan Connection : The plot to kill Henry Liu–slayers confess details (1985) Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times. Available at: https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-03-03-mn-32691-story.html (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[14] Martial law (2022) OFTaiwan. Available at: https://oftaiwan.org/history/white-terror/martial-law/ (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[15] Says:, R. and Says:, J.M. (2022) 228 massacre, OFTaiwan. Available at: https://oftaiwan.org/history/white-terror/228-massacre/ (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[16] Lin, S. (2017) Lawmakers pass transitional justice act, Taipei Times. 台北時報. Available at: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2017/12/06/2003683504 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[17] Taiwan Launches Transitional Justice Commission: Politics: Focus Taiwan – CNA English news (no date) Politics | FOCUS TAIWAN – CNA ENGLISH NEWS. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20180602164346/http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201805310018.aspx (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[18] France 24 (2018) Taiwan pardons over 1,200 ‘white terror’ victims, France 24. France 24. Available at: https://www.france24.com/en/20181005-taiwan-pardons-over-1200-white-terror-victims (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[19] Yu-fu, C. (2018) Commission exonerates 1,505 people, Taipei Times. 台北時報. Available at: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2018/12/10/2003705830 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[20] Focus Taiwan – CNA English News (2019) Justice Commission set to exonerate 1,056 people, Focus Taiwan. Focus Taiwan – CNA English News. Available at: https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/201902250018 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[21] Transitional Justice Commission exonerates 2,006 political persecution victims (2019) Taiwan Today. Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Republic of China (Taiwan). Available at: https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=2%2C6%2C10%2C15%2C18&post=156205 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[22] Yu-fu, C. and Chung, J. (2020) Progress made on removal of authoritarian-era statues, Taipei Times. 台北時報. Available at: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/08/13/2003741609 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[23] Yu-fu, C. and Hetherington, W. (2020) New details revealed in activist’s death, Taipei Times. 台北時報. Available at: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/05/05/2003735851 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[24] Pan, J. (2020) Justice Commission reveals extent of KMT Surveillance, Taipei Times. 台北時報. Available at: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2020/11/12/2003746773 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[25] Pan, J. (2020) Files show KMT links with gangs, Taipei Times. 台北時報. Available at: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2020/06/25/2003738845 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[26] Focus Taiwan – CNA English News (2021) Chiang Kai-shek participated in over 4,000 political trials: TJC, Focus Taiwan. Focus Taiwan – CNA English News. Available at: https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202102260018 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[27] Law, V. (2020) Taiwan targets truth not justice as it investigates darker times, Human Rights News | Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera. Available at: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/5/26/taiwan-targets-truth-not-justice-as-it-investigates-darker-times (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[28] https://ketagalanmedia.com/2021/05/06/kmt-assets-a-barrier-to-party-reform-and-electoral-success/

[29] Focus Taiwan – CNA English News (2022) Cabinet approves plan for Transitional Justice Commission dissolution, Focus Taiwan. Focus Taiwan – CNA English News. Available at: https://focustaiwan.tw/politics/202202240025 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[30] 23, C.P.-B.M., Pérez-Bustillo, C. and Pérez-Bustillo, C. (2022) Human rights challenges highlight Taiwan’s ongoing Democratic transition, Just Security. Available at: https://www.justsecurity.org/81618/human-rights-challenges-highlight-taiwans-ongoing-democratic-transition/ (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[31] Defending democracy in exile (no date) Freedom House. Available at: https://freedomhouse.org/report/transnational-repression (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[32] Tan, Y. (2022) China-Taiwan: Beijing speeding up plans for unification, Blinken says, BBC News. BBC. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-63296105 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[33]Countries that Recognize Taiwan 2022 (no date) Countries that recognize Taiwan 2022. Available at: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/countries-that-recognize-taiwan (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[34] John Cena: Fast and furious star sorry over Taiwan remark backlash (2021) BBC News. BBC. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-57241053 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[35] Jones, D. (2022) Snickers’ parent company Mars Wrigley apologizes for referring to Taiwan as a country in ad, ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV. ABC 10 News San Diego KGTV. Available at: https://www.10news.com/news/national/snickers-parent-company-mars-wrigley-apologizes-for-referring-to-taiwan-as-a-country-in-ad (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[36] Rhodes, B. (2022) Taiwan prepares to be invaded, The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company. Available at: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/12/china-takeover-taiwan-xi-tsai-ing-wen/671895/ (Accessed: November 21, 2022).

[37] Maiden, S. (no date) Kevin Rudd warns of ‘catastrophic’ consequences of armed conflict with China over Taiwan, news.com.au. Available at: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/kevin-rudd-warns-of-catastrophic-consequences-of-armed-conflict-with-china-over-taiwan/news-story/e099bd0d009109b651263cbff0caa273 (Accessed: November 21, 2022).