In 1945, Japan surrendered Taiwan. MacArthur, the commander-in-chief of the United Nations Pacific Front, issued a "mandate" ordering Chiang Kai-shek to disarm the Japanese troops in Taiwan. However, Chiang's Kuomintang group took advantage of this opportunity to occupy Taiwan as its colony. They took over the "colonial rule system" left by Japan and brought in the feudal and corrupt "bureaucratic system" and fascist "spy system" from China. They sent Chinese warlords, spies, bureaucrats, party hacks and compradors. From the beginning, the Taiwanese people committed all kinds of evil and plundered, namely:
1. Plundered Japanese heritage (the fruits of Taiwanese labor) of 14 billion yen, equivalent to 540 trillion Taiwan dollars today, and all the property of Taiwanese people, causing public outrage among Taiwanese people
2. Introduced Chinese warlord fascist bureaucracy, and colonial, fascist, and feudal oppression and exploitation of Taiwan, causing political indignation among Taiwanese people
3. The new foreign rulers issued paper money wantonly (inflation reached 60,000 times from 1945 to 1950) to plunder rice, coal, salt, sugar and other daily necessities of Taiwanese people to support 2 million refugees and transport them back to mainland China, causing an unprecedented economic panic in history (price fluctuations reached 800,000 times from 1945 to 1950), shortage of materials, repeated rice shortages, soaring prices, bankruptcy and unemployment, etc., and the lives of the people were devastated, causing economic resentment among Taiwanese people
4. The feudal, backward and reactionary Chiang Kai-shek Kuomintang group regarded itself as a conqueror and instead abused the Taiwanese people as slaves of a conquered nation and colonial slaves, igniting ethnic hatred among Taiwanese people
The above anger and hatred permeated the entire Taiwanese society and filled the hearts of every Taiwanese, so the mass uprising of the "228 Revolution" broke out on February 27, 1947.
The Taiwanese people took the incident of a corrupt Chiang Kai-shek Monopoly Bureau police officer injuring an old woman and killing a passerby as the fuse, which aroused the indignation of the people in Taipei and naturally led to a large-scale riot. The next day, the Taiwanese people who were demanding the punishment of the criminals in the square of the Governor's Office were shot dead and hunted down everywhere. This ignited the anger of the anti-violence uprising and spread across the island. Finally, from March 1 to March 7, almost all parts of Taiwan were controlled by the Taiwanese armed forces.
In order to delay the war, the warlord Chen Yi pretended to negotiate peace while secretly asking Nanjing for troops and assistance to suppress the "traitors and thugs."
After receiving the report, Chiang Kai-shek, the leader of the Kuomintang, immediately broadcast in Nanjing, deceiving himself and blaming the Taiwanese people, saying: "This civil uprising is nothing more than Taiwanese people trained by the Japanese army and instigated by the Communist Party in an attempt to take advantage of the situation..." He also sent troops to Taiwan on the 8th. That is, the 4th Military Police Regiment (Regiment Commander Zhang Mutao) and the 21st Division (Division Commander Liu Yuqing) joined the Taiwan Garrison Headquarters (Chief of Staff Ke Yuanfen) ‧ Keelung Fortress (Commander Shi Hongxi) ‧ Kaohsiung Fortress (Commander Peng Mengji)
As soon as the Chinese reinforcements landed at the Keelung dock, they shouted: "Taiwanese are not Chinese, kill, kill, kill..." In this way, they hunted down and killed Taiwanese who resisted the violence and innocent Taiwanese people everywhere. The Chinese military executioners used extremely cruel methods to slaughter and torture. For example, they were forced to kneel naked on the ground and beaten to death, or their hands and feet were chopped off to death, or their ears, noses and genitals were cut off, and their eyes were dug out. Some were taken to high buildings and kicked, beaten, pushed down and fell to death. Some had iron wires pierced through their palms and ankles, and then three or five people were tied together and pushed into the sea to drown. Some were put into sacks and thrown into the sea to die. There are countless Taiwanese who have been tortured to death in this inhumane way. Everywhere is a miserable living hell.
Especially those who were brutally murdered and died martyred, such as Taiwanese public leaders Wang Tiandeng, Lin Maosheng, Chen Xin and others who were assassinated and their bodies were never found. Martyr Chen Fuzhi of Chiayi City (commander of the uprising troops) was loaded onto a truck and paraded through the streets for public display, and then was humiliated and murdered in front of the train station. His body was then tied to a pillar in front of the station and no one dared to approach. Tainan City Martyr Tang Dezhang (Director of Tainan City Human Rights Protection Committee) was tied to a truck and paraded through the streets for public display. He was actually killed in Taisho Park, and his corpse was hung in front of the park gate and left to rot for a long time. Peng Mengji, the murderous devil of Kaohsiung, led his troops down the mountain and killed anyone they saw, regardless of gender, age or status. All 34 Kaohsiung City Senators were killed. Pingtung's democratically elected mayor Ye Qiumu was arrested and had his ears and nose cut off. He was then brutally tortured to death, dragged through the streets and paraded through the streets before being brutally murdered in front of the public. Such cruelty can be seen everywhere.
After the massacres that took place day and night across the island of Taiwan, on March 14, the General Security Command announced: "As of March 13, the entire province has been pacified, and the work of eradicating traitors will begin today, and we will enter the "appeasement" stage." Then on March 17, Defense Minister Bai Chongxi and Chiang Ching-kuo flew from Nanjing and announced a shift to "legal" sanctions. Such tactics commonly used by Chinese warlords as appeasement, cleansing up the countryside, inspection, and legal sanctions were widely carried out in various places. In addition to the long-term implementation of "surprise inspections" on the roads, trains, and cars, "special martial law" was also frequently imposed, cutting off traffic in the entire city and village, and implementing closed household registration inspections. Anyone who was found to have an incorrect household registration or no evidence of good conduct, or who was falsely accused due to personal grudges, was listed as a "traitor, bandit, and thug" and could hardly escape the clutches of the executioner. Therefore, for a long time after the 228 Revolution, the number of Taiwanese who were wrongly arrested and killed increased rather than decreased compared to those killed during the revolution. This massacre continued for a long time during the "White Terror" in the 1950s and 1960s. As a result, according to the announcement by Executive Yuan President Chiang Ching-kuo in 1976, 123,457 people were removed from the household register because they were considered "missing".
In this way, the Taiwanese people suffered unprecedented massacres and slaughter at the hands of foreign rulers. Not only today, more than 70 years later, but also after another hundred or two hundred years, this pain and hatred will be indelible. Taiwanese people must never forget the "228" "White Terror" massacre. If they forget, the Taiwanese nation will surely decline.
Only by turning pain and hatred into perseverance and courage, adhering to the ideals of Taiwanese nationalism, standing firm on the liberation of the colonies, and strengthening the determination to fight wholeheartedly for the future of Taiwan, can the Taiwanese people achieve "Taiwanese national independence" and avoid suffering massacres and slaughters from foreign rulers again, and maintain the existence of the Taiwanese nation.
