The coincidence of the 30th anniversary of the Kaohsiung or "Formosa" Incident and the 61st anniversary of the promulgation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights yesterday provides an important moment for reflection on both the Taiwan's difficult democratization and the state of our democratic society after 19 months after the restoration to governance of the former party of authoritarianism.
Exactly three decades ago in Kaohsiung City, a riot broke out between police and supporters of the democratic movement attending a banned demonstration called to commemorate International Human Rights Day organized by "Formosa" monthly, the self-designated "magazine of the Taiwan democratic movement."
The violence was followed three days later by an island-wide crackdown by the authoritarian Chinese Nationalist Party (Kuomintang) regime under the late president Chiang Ching-kuo which swept up dozens of democratic opposition activists, including eight "Formosa" leaders who were tried in military court on sedition charges.
The crackdown and the subsequent trial of the "Formosa Eight," whose ranks included former vice president Annette Lu and Kaohsiung City Mayor Chen Chu and who were defended by a team of lawyers including the future president Chen Shui-bian, made world headlines and was followed by the revival of a strong democratic movement that ultimately led to the formation of the Democratic Progressive Party in defiance of a martial law ban on new political organizations in September 1986 and finally compelled Chiang to revoke the 38-year martial law decree
in July 1987.
Three decades later, questions of the responsibility for the Kaohsiung Incident and the following draconian crackdown, not to mention the February 28th Massacre of 1947 and thousands of unjust martial law cases remains murky, a state of affairs which both impedes tbe attainment of genuine "truth and reconciliation" as well as mutual respect for different historical experiences or identities.
Most troubling of all, the brutal murders of the mother and two of three daughters of "Formosa" defendant and later DPP chairman Lin I-hsiung on February 28, 1980 remain unsolved after three decades.
The efforts made by the former DPP administration under former president and ex-"Formosa" defense lawyer Chen Shui-bian and former vice president and "Formosa Eight" political prisoner Annette Lu to address these issues of "transitional justice" were insufficient, the clock has been turned back since the KMT regained government under President Ma Ying-jeou.
The inability of the KMT to appreciate or respect the historical memories of the millions of victims of KMT "white terror" or democratic movement participants has been displayed in the heavy-handed restoration of the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall from the neutral "Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" and the violation of the Chingmei Human Rights Memorial Park, the site of numerous martial law era trials and detentions, including the "Formosa" case, under the guise of "opening up" the memorial's space for use by unrelated performing arts and artists.
This state of affairs is especially unfortunate because the "Tangwai" or "outside the party" movement, so named because the KMT martial law ban on new parties, was remarkably diversified, including "native" Taiwanese and mainland-born activists and open-ended on the question of Taiwan's future, if only because any public discourse on "independence" or "unification" was forbidden.
As symbolized by its unofficial symbol of a clenched fist above the two Chinese character for "human rights," the Tangwai movement demanded the implementation of the basic freedoms promised under the Republic of China Constitution and then abrogated by the KMT regime's May 1949 martial law decree and also appealed to international concern for people's struggles to release political prisoners and secure and defend basic human rights under authoritarian regimes of either the "left" or "right."
The Tangwai movement's demands for basic human rights implicitly demanded space for the discussion of Taiwan's future and, by implication, respect for the right of Taiwan's people to decide their future, a principle not welcomed by either the KMT or the Chinese Communist Party but which is now a mainstream consensus in Taiwan.
Ultimately, what the "Formosa" democratic movement and the course of events after it was crushed by the KMT regime's crackdown following the Kaohsiung Incident showed most of all was the validity of the saying that "the wild fire will not burn deep and the spring breezes will bring renewed life."
Despite the catastrophic shock of the February 28th Massacre of 1947, the deep repression of "white terror" and the crushing of several attempts to establish opposition parties, a progressive and democratic movement grew, built trust and support among the people of Taiwan and finally put an end to over a half-century of hard or soft authoritarianism.
All of those who participated in this pioneering movement for democracy and human rights and its moment of history should be proud of what "Formosa" and those who followed in its footsteps accomplished and should be concerned over the evident rollback of human rights standards and respect for democratic principles and accountability and even judicial independence or military neutrality under the KMT, which seemingly remains dominated by authoritarian "genes."
Source: Taiwan News Online - Editorial 2009/12/11
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