The Republic of China Government was the ruling government in Mainland China from 1912 until 1949 when the Republic of China’s Aqrmy was defeated by the People’s Liberation Army under Mao Ze Dong. Chiang fled to Taiwan in 1949 and reestablished the Republic of China on the Island of Taiwan. He remained president of the Republic of China, in Taipei until his death in 1975. (Please see the Taiwan Adventure Blog post for October 21, 2010, "Taiwanese History: Double Tenth Day," for more information about the formation of the Republic of China government on Taiwan.)
The 28 February 1947 arrest of a woman selling cigarettes without a license was the spark which led to large-scale public protests against repression and corruption. For some ten days, Chiang still on the mainland and his governor Chen Yi kept up the pretense of negotiations with leaders of the protest movement, but at the same time they sent troops from the mainland. As soon as the troops arrived, they started rounding up and executing people, in particular scholars, lawyers, doctors, students and local leaders of the protest movement. In total between 18,000 and 28,000 people were murdered. Thousands of others were arrested and imprisoned in the "White Terror" campaign, which took place in the following decade. Many of these remained imprisoned until the early 1980s.
(http://www.taiwandc.org/228-intr.htm Remembering 2-28)
The mausoleum was closed in December 2007, by the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party) under then president, Chen Shui Bian. On May 20, 2008 it was opened to the public as the KMT (Kou Ming Tang, the party of Chiang Kai Shek) once more took power under President Ma Ying Jiu.
Photos by Emily Banducci (c) 2010
Other posts you may be interested in:
Taiwanese History: The 2/28 Massacre
Taiwanese History: Double Tenth Day
Taiwanese Travelogue: The Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine
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