Reconsidering White “Terror” in Taiwan during the Martial Law Period: A Case Study on the Persecution of Yantai Associated High School Students in Penghu
Author: Ying-Chao Yang, Hsiu-ling Wu
Abstract / Chinese PDF Download
This article explains the contradiction between the description of the brutal rule under the KMT administration and the result of KMT’s vote share during the authoritarian period. In the past, several scholars have claimed that the KMT government and officials were extremely brutal, and hence people in Taiwan resented their new rulers. On the other hand, other scholars believe this government was popular because the majority of Taiwanese people voted for them. This article uses the case of the persecution of the Yantai Associated High School students in Penghu to point out that the KMT government took resilient policies to soothe the rage of survivors after it created this injustice. At the same time, the survivors did not resent the government as some historians have previously claimed. There were different reactions from the survivors and some survivors believed that the tragedy was a result of a few selfish officials, rather than the government. Therefore, the claim that the KMT government’s rule was brutal is something which should be re-examined.