Virtual Archives

:::

Home>Theme Archives>228 incident> Course of the Incident

:::

Trigger

Consolation

Course of the Incident

The background of 228 Incident- The unfair treatment towards Taiwanese people.

On August 29, 1945 , the National Government appointed Chen Yi as the governor of Taiwan , in charge of taking Taiwan over from Japan , as well as military and political responsibilities. On October 25, Chen Yi attended the surrender ceremony of the Japanese military forces at the Chung Shan Hall. Taiwan and Panghu then came under the territory of China , and the nationality of Republic of China was restored to the Taiwanese people.
Administration of Chen Yi in Taiwan :
After the Restoration, people expressed their welcome and support for the government. However, due to the frequent explosions at Taiwanese facilities by American military forces, it was not easy to obtain raw materials and technicians after the war. Hence, it was not an easy task to attain the production level prior to the war .
Moreover, the administrative, judiciary, legislative, and military powers were all under the control of the governor ; this centralization of powers was ineffective in restoring Taiwan , hence, the political situations worsened.
Then, in the beginning of 1947, observant civilians recognized the severity of situations. Unfortunately, the Central Government and Chen Yi failed to take action resulting in the outbreak of the 228 Incident.
Background of the 228 Incident- Policy Factors:
In the beginning of the Restoration, Taiwan 's people expressed their support for the government. But unfortunately, Chen Yi and his subordinates did not seize this favorable opportunity. On the contrary, Chen Yi overly trusted his subordinates. When his subordinates were verbally attacked, he did not punish them, nor did he investigate deeply into the incident, which resulted in discontent and resentment of people originated from the Taiwanese province toward those originated from non-Taiwan provinces.
Moreover, the drawbacks in the formulation of the systems in the beginning of the Restoration also contributed to the dissatisfaction of the people toward the government. From the perspective of the Taiwanese, the executive governor system was not much different from the system during the Japanese occupation, so they were skeptical of whether their “mother land” could fairly treat the people originated from the Taiwan province. Although Chen Yi stated, “People from Taiwan were deemed the citizens of the Republic of China, starting from October 25, 1945,” there were inconsistencies and contradictions and contradiction in how the Central Government and the Executive Office treated the Taiwanese people and their property, which undermined the Taiwanese people's loyalty toward their mother land .
Background of the 228 Incident- Economic Factors:
Taiwan was under inflation during that time . Moreover, due to damages to the farming fields during World War II, combined with the outbreak of natural disasters and rising population, food shortage was rampant. Moreover, the Executive Office overly resented outsiders, and the government ran their trade. However, the distribution of goods was less than ideal , thereby causing prices to rise . Between October 1945 and December 1946, prices were increased by hundredfolds, and the food shortage situation became grave . Chen Yi thought that the government should control the transportation, and continued the monopoly system set up by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation. As a result, businessmen were increasingly concerned with unreasonably excessive profits, and became involved in corruption . Hence, during the 228 Incident, reformers requested to abandon the "Monopoly Bureau" and "Trade Bureau".
Background of the 228 Incident- Social Factors:
In January 1946, Beijing reported the “Regulations Governing the Management of Korean and Taiwanese Industries,” and regarded the Taiwanese people staying in China as Koreans, which affected its relationship with the Taiwanese people. Although this regulation had subsequently been amended by the government, their worsened relationship was developed.
Together with unfair treatment, lack of political efficiency, rampant bureaucracy, and illegal involvement of some government officials, all these disappointed the Taiwanese people, thereby resulting in the formation of anti-government resistance.
Background of the 228 Incident- Cultural Factors:
As the Taiwanese people had long been under Japanese rule, their understanding of their motherland's situations was limited; they, then, always compared their current governor's rule with past Japanese occupation. They emotionally believed that their motherland was no better than Japan . Together with language barriers, conflicts among people originating from different provinces in China got worsened. Then the outbreak of the anti-tobacco smuggling incident created anti-government resistance. The suppressed people seized this opportunity to vent their dissatisfaction and disappointment to the government. Although such an expression of negative emotions was reasonable to a certain extent, this went too far from the freedom of speech and actions permitted by laws.
The Unfair Treatment towards People Originated from Taiwan
After the Japanese surrendered on August 15, 1945 , the Taiwanese restored their nationality of Republic of China. However, they did not received reasonable treatment. First, on December 6, the Regulations Governing the Punishment of Betrayers to the Chinese People” was promulgated. Then, on January 17, 1946 , Chen Yi ordered the people to report the betrayers, and then proceeded to arrest those who are related . On August 21, the “Regulations Governing the Termination of Registration of Persons of Civil Rights in Taiwan” was promulgated, in order to investigate and charge the Taiwanese people who held important positions in the organizations, schools, and communities organized by the Japanese during the Japanese occupation, showing no remorse for what they had done after the Restoration. Pursuant to the stipulations, the affected were deprived of government jobs. Seeing how these measures were unfair to the Taiwanese people , Huang Kuo-shu and 17 others requested to enact laws to protect the position of the Taiwanese, as well as commended on their loyalty, in an effort to improve the situations of the Taiwanese people .

Chen Yi ruled Taiwan badly.

Archives of the National Government appointing Chen Yi as Taiwan Provincial Governor.