Formosa Incident

Kaohsiung Incident
Chinese	高雄事件
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Gāoxióng shìjiàn Southern Min Hokkien POJ Ko-hiông Sū-kiāⁿ
Formosa Incident
Traditional Chinese	美麗島事件
Simplified Chinese	美丽岛事件
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Měilìdǎo shìjiàn Southern Min Hokkien POJ Bí-lē-tó Sū-kiāⁿ

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Gāoxióng shìjiàn
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	Ko-hiông Sū-kiāⁿ

Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu Pinyin	Měilìdǎo shìjiàn
Southern Min
Hokkien POJ	Bí-lē-tó Sū-kiāⁿ

The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident or the Formosa Magazine incident, was the result of pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 10 December 1979.

The incident occurred when Formosa Magazine, headed by veteran opposition legislator Huang Shin-chieh, and other opposition politicians held a demonstration commemorating Human Rights Day in an effort to promote and demand democracy in Taiwan. At that time, the Republic of China was a one-party state and the government used this protest as an excuse to arrest the main leaders of the political opposition. The Kaohsiung Incident is widely regarded as a seminal event in the post-war history of Taiwan and the watershed of the Taiwan democratization movements. The event had the effect of galvanizing the Taiwanese community into political actions and is regarded as one of the events that eventually led to democracy in Taiwan.

From 1949 until the 1990s, Taiwan was effectively a one-party state under the rule of the Kuomintang (KMT). During the late 1970s many opponents of the KMT seeking democracy gradually organized themselves as an opposition camp, following the establishment of the magazine Taiwan Political Review by Kang Ning-Siang in 1975. These opponents called themselves "Tangwai", literally meaning "outside the party". In its fifth edition on 27 December 1976 it published an article entitled “Two States of Mind — An Evening Discussion with Fou Cong and Professor Liou” which resulted in the revocation of the publisher’s license. In the 1977 election, Tangwai expanded support significantly and won more seats than ever before. The outcome of the election demonstrated the potential of Tangwai as a quasi-opposition party to the ruling KMT and laid the ground for the ensuing mass movement.

On 16 December 1978, U.S. President Jimmy Carter announced that the U.S. would sever its official relationship with the Republic of China as of 1 January 1979. It was the most serious challenge to the Taiwan government since it lost its seat at the United Nations to the People's Republic of China in 1971. President Chiang Ching-kuo immediately postponed all elections without a definite deadline for its restoration. Tangwai, which had won steadily expanding support, was strongly frustrated and disappointed about Chiang’s decision since it suspended the only legitimate method they could use to express their opinions.

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Wikipedia