Chapter III Development of Civil Society and Democracy in Postwar Taiwan
3.1 Weak Civil Society and Authoritarian State before 1987
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society. Whether the Sunflower Movement ushered in a new phase of democratic discourse and to what degree has it impacted on the state policies are the issues for this dissertation.
3.1 Weak Civil Society and Authoritarian State before 1987
3.1.1 The implementation of martial law and a highly depressed civil society
The first era started in 1947 when the February 28 Incident5 disclosure the absolute control of the Chinese Nationalists. (Chu & Lin, 2001, p.112-114) The state-centered ruling mode had lasted for decades until the lifting of martial law. Since the 228 Incident, the Nationalists built up an impregnable authoritarian image to seize an overall control over the society and leave the civil society with no vitality. Chiang Kai-shek lost the Chinese Civil War to Communist Party of China and retreated to Taiwan in 1949. The same year, Chen Cheng, the Governor of Taiwan Province, promulgated martial law and the entire society was under highly surveillances. Since then, Kuomintang (KMT) had begun its single ruling party model and police-state controlled regime, which means that the politics, society and economy of Taiwan were under highly surveillance.
The implementation of martial law not only successfully restrained the
development of political oppositions, but also scattered the strength of civil society.
The highly repressing measures forged a compliant civil society, in which people were
5 The 228 Incident was an important uprising which was violently suppressed by the Chinese Nationalists government. The civil society was discontent about rampant corruption, inflation, and political discrepancies after the Nationalists took over Taiwan from Japanese rule. The catalyst of the 228 event caused by a cigarette selling dispute and erupted massacre which led thousands of Taiwanese died and imprisoned. This incident is marked as one of the most important events in Taiwan. For a detailed analysis of this event, see Lai, T. Han, Myers, R. H., & Wei, W. (1991). A tragic beginning:
the Taiwan uprising of February 28, 1947. United States: Stanford University Press.
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too afraid to challenge the established order. Moreover, the mass media was another tool for the authority to penetrate its social control. The circulation of newspaper required registering with the state and the content was supervised to exclude the dissent. In this period as Rigger stated that “the overwhelming social, economic and political predominance of party-state sponsored organizations retarded the
development of independent interest groups and political pluralism.” (Rigger, 1999, p 74) The civil power barely existed, if there was, it was merely individual based, fragmented and weak.
3.1.2 Internal and external pressures for the state in the 1970s
In the 1970s, the authority encountered both external and internal pressure. In the international environment, Taiwan had faced a series of diplomatic setback such as losing the diplomatic ties with Canada and Japan, expelling from the United Nations, and closer ties between the U.S. and China. These diplomatic setbacks frustrated the regime’s international status. In the domestic environment, the country had
experienced industrialization and modernization, and the pressure for changes tensed up.
In order to cope with the intensified pressure, on the one hand, the gradually loosened state control started with land reforms and a series of economic policies.
On the other hand, state performance was evaluated through local elections. A patronage political system6 was discouraged by the electoral system and shifted towards a more responsive one. Local elections gradually served as an
institutionalized feedback mechanism to provide more legitimacy. Various political
6 A patronage system refers to promises of political compensation in exchange for political support. A political party winning an election rewards its prominent supporters with governmental positions or other favours. Personnel arrangements were based on political affiliation or loyalty.
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dissents were able to voice out during the elections as Dickson states that,
“[o]pposition candidates were able to voice criticisms of the KMT during the brief election seasons that would not have been tolerated at any other time”. (Dickson, 1995, p. 58) Hence, it gradually formed a relatively competitive atmosphere and provided better qualified candidates as political alternatives. The society demanded for a more responsive regime, rather than accepted the political output passively.
Despite some political progress, the personnel appointments to high and mid-level officials and military forces still hold in the hand of KMT. Under the long dominant single-party ruling system, the society had craved for political freedom, and
participation.
Under the martial law, the society still constrained and the existing of the unified opposition party was still prohibited. In this context, Tangwai (literally means outside the party) became a pronoun for the opposition power. The Zhongli incident7 in 1977 was an important political protest and the first antigovernment demonstration since the February 1947. Protestors rioted against a local magistrate’s election fraud in Zhongli, Taoyuan County. The incident galvanized a more unified opposition power and caused more social movements aiming for more political engagement and
political freedom. This event established a new competing opposition force outside of the KMT.
Before lifting the newspaper ban in 1987, the voices of dissent could only rely on informal and obscured tactics. The opposition movement and social movement
7 The Zhongli Incident was a riot in the town of Zhongli in 1977 in response to the use of paper ballots in a local election, which voters believed increased the possibility that the election would be rigged.
Believing there was election fraud, the protestors rioted, burning down the Zhongli police station.
The KMT suppressed the revolt violently. This incident galvanized a more unified Tangwai power. See more in Weng, B. S. J. (2009). A Short History of Taiwan’s Democracy Movement. In B. Bridges & L. S. Ho (Eds.), Public Governance in Asia and the Limits of Electoral Democracy. Edward Elgar Publishing. P.123
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activists had to voice through the magazines, videotapes, and spoken words.
Therefore, magazines became the best mediator to pass out new advocacies and recruit new members. It not only served as an instrument for propaganda, but also enhanced the social network for the Tangwai. In a way, it enabled the public to recognize democratic values, and meanwhile it undermined the legitimacy of the ruling party. Magazines served as a panel for the activists to practice democratic values, advocated human rights, redefined nationalism and, and mobilized the public.
Take the Kaohsiung incident for example. It was sponsored by Formosa Magazine.
The incident culminated the pro-democracy Tangwai movement and had been recognized as a turning point in the process of democracy transition in Taiwan.
Although the KMT authorities tried to eliminate those discontent voices from the society and used means, such as unjustified trials, this kind of suppressing means only made inroad into the reputation of the ruling party.
3.1.3 The Formosa Incident of 1979 and more unified opposition power
The Kaohsiung incident also known as the Formosa Incident8 of 1979 demonstrated the accumulated strength of civil society. On the International Human Rights Day, December 10th of 1979, the Formosa Magazine assembled the public and delivered public speeches to commemorate. This gathering had been applied, but official sanction was not been given by the authority. The government recognized it as an illegal rally, and sent police to dismiss the crowd. The confrontation happened and
8 The suspension of a planned national election in late 1978 aroused wide discontent and was considered as an intentional postponement for the political conservatives. In the autumn of 1979, the Formosa Magazine Group and the mass rallied to demand for more political freedom. In December 1979, confrontation and violence occurred when the authority tried to crack down the gathering. The authority jailed most of the leaders to deter further opposition movements. (Cheng, 1989, p.15)
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created massive riots between two sides. The fighting broke out and staffs of Formosa Magazine, and opposition activists were arrested. They were under detention to be interrogated and treated violently to confess guilty. (Cohen, 1988, p.41) The activists were accused of the intention to overthrow the government and inciting the public rising in rebellion.
The incident caused a prevailing discontent and it was reflected on the results of elections. Because of the unjustified trials and the harsh treatment meted out to the opposition leaders, the social community had formed a widespread sympathy.
Tangwai performed well in the 1980 supplementary election and the 1981 local election, and its supporters seemed to form some party identity during this period of time.(Copper, 1990, pp.6-7) It was believed that the strength gained from this incident had incubated the power for the forming of the opposition party, the Democratic Progress Party (the DPP).
In the mid-1980s, the political opposition played a crucial role in pressing the KMT state for liberalization. A mushrooming of social movements emerged after 1983and converged with the opposition movements. Thus, during this period, in Chu and Lin’s words, “the social movements of the 1980s loosened the firm grip of the authoritarian state on the civil society and provided a mobilized soil in various social sectors for the political opposition to take root”. (Chu & Lin, 2001, p.120)
3.1.4 The unstoppable social forces and imminent political changes
The relation of the state and the civil society had been altered and caused the authority to yearn more autonomous power to the civil society. Lu described that “the lifting of martial law and an end of party ban were regarded by informed public as imminent.
In this atmosphere of high expectancy and uncertainty, Tangwai leaders were actively
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engaged in the business of forming a new party.” (Lu, 1991, p. 128) In July 1986, after the third plenum of the Twelfth Central Committee of the KMT, it proposed the Six Political Reforms, which included the central representative structure reform, electoral system changes, establishing National Security Law, regulations for social organizations and associations, social safety, and reform in the KMT party. On September 28, 1986, the Tangwai leaders decided to announce the founding of the
“Democratic Progressive Party”. The KMT denounced this illegal move but hold off a crackdown on its leaders. The authority evaluated the likelihood of social instability and riots decided not to repress. The political reforms, which were leaded by Chiang lifted bans on the forming of political parties and street protests. The forming of the opposition party could be seen as a big step toward democratization in Taiwan history.
Despite the huge success of democratization process, the KMT still monopolized the resources of the country, such as the financial resources, the police force, the military forces and many media outlets (example: Central Daily News, Broadcasting Corporation of China). Therefore, there were obstacles for the opposition to finally achieve the ideal political freedom through true and fair elections. The DPP
candidates competed with the KMT candidates in a less advantage situation. The opposition party suffered from political persecution and harassment. Moreover, the abilities of social mobilizations were still in the preference of KMT, which with outspread party cadres throughout the country. Even though in the beginning stage of the democratization process there were foreseeable obstacles ahead, the civil society had successfully pressured the state to accelerate the pace of reform.
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