White Terror in Taiwan - Cold War DOCUMENTARY

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Our historical documentary series on the history of the Cold War continues with a video on the White Terror in Taiwan, as in the aftermath of taking over the island and losing the civil war, the Kuomintang enacted a brutal dictatorship on the island.
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[@Mondo762]

I lived on Taiwan 1954-56. My father was a US Army Advisor stationed at Ching Chuan Kang (CCK) Air Base in the middle of the island by Taichung. My dad told stories of a place called "The Racetrack" up north in Taipei. It was an actual racetrack where Chiang Kai-shek sent people he didn't like and they never came back. Of course there are other things I actually remember. Airplanes flying over dropping leaflets and long columns of tanks and half-tracks running around the island. Chiang was always threatening to invade the mainland back then. Edit - I became a Merchant Marine officer and visited Taiwan many times from 1974 to 1998. Watched the island grow from dirt roads and bicycles to bright lights and fancy cars. I was also very glad to see Taiwan become a democracy. It has been a long hard road for the Taiwanese people.

[@johndavis8669]

The US still can't shake off the Chiang Kai Shek and his son era. Their is evidence the Taiwan relations act was only passed with some bribes and death threats.

[@FinUgShiet]

Now that's a comment worth reading!

[@christophereduardo9903]

Capitalist oligarchy is not democracy, look up Democracy in Plato and Aristotle, democracy is much closer to socialism really.

[@Wufei22]

@@christophereduardo9903not really .

[@Trancymind]

If you want to see the real authentic chinese culture, go and visit Taiwan. Communist China pretty much destroyed their own chinese culture with their communist ideology.

[@Skyewastaken2]

I grew up in Taiwan and none of my history classes ever went in depth about any of this. We were taught but only surface level things. I’m glad that there are informative videos like this to re educate me about my country’s history. Wonderful video!

[@willylin8046]

The history book nowadays has been improved on this part. I can confirm.

[@jesusaguilar4585]

The same with some history subjects that are taught here in the US.

[@eternaldrunk]

yea you're owned by u.s.a. propaganda

[@nemaproblema6879]

It's just sad that thats what it took to rid yourself of the people that would have made your nation now to be totalitarian but you become a very successful democracy just as chile had to do. This is what terrorizes the communists your mere existence and success story, they realize their existence impoverishes any state they live in.

[@st.altair4936]

It's not much different now lol. Liberal "democracies" are by definition not democratic, since it's still under capitalist rule. Also, Taiwan isn't a "country", its government is illegitimate.

[@JewTube001]

I like to bring this up with western people because they often assume Taiwan was always a free democracy. It's always good to learn history I think.

[@mito88]

south korea was the same

[@maxriley1769]

I don't think anyone in the west assumes that Taiwan was a "free democracy" under the Formosan government or the Japanese occupation in WW2. The repressive streak of the Taiwanese, South Korean, Japanese, Phillipines and Singaporean governments in the Asian Tiger period was well documented and well known across the western world. The difference between those regimes and those of Vietnam, Laos, North Korea and PRC was that liberal democracy eventually flushed out the worst of the authoritarian elements.

[@eruno_]

Taiwanese freedom struggle under KMT dictatorship always seems unfortunately ignored in the west despite the fact that for modern Taiwanese identity it's especially important.

[@lordguan88]

Chiang Kai Shek and Sun Yat Sen also crushed a Chinese federalist moment in Guangdong when they were starting out as well.

[@Jestersage]

@@maxriley1769 Well documented, but not often spoken out in the west. In fact, I will say for Taiwanese, talk of 229 is more often than fear of CCP.

[@glenchen5723]

My grandfather was conscripted by the KMT when they came over to the island after WW2. As part of the first batch of troops conscripted, most of them had no knowledge of mandarin, and officers shouted orders to no avail. But they quickly found men fluent in both Japanese and Mandarin to help translate the orders into Japanese. My grandfather ended up speaking mandarin with a Japanese accent and continued to speak decent Japanese until he passed.

[@1116JACKY]

My grandparent had Japanese's education in Taiwan before the end of WWII. When they knew the war is over, they were happy and welcome ROC to take over. My grandma started learning to speak mandarin and weave the flag of ROC to welcome them. But whatever happened later disappointed them a lot. Soldiers of KMT had no discipline and no basic education. That grew the seed of huge conflict of Taiwanese and Chinese from ROC. There's even a phrase saying that " the dogs(Japan) leave but comes the pig(ROC-KMT)", at least dog help to guard your wealth, but pig just eat.

[@user-uy9ni2rk5i]

My father was born during the time period, it’s absolutely unbelievable and terrifying to hear what he and our elder been through, but it was also the peak of Taiwanese military power since the 蔣介石still hope to reclaim mainland China, but his execution and overall policy in Taiwan is a terrible disaster.

[@pngai2232]

very true, ever ask yourself why the United States supported a killers regime like Chiang Kai Shek and the KMT ? think !!!!!

[@haidancheng5199]

Thank you for telling the story about the 228 Incident. As a Taiwanese, I'm surprised that something you've narrated is what I didn't know before. In my school days, I only learned about the 228 Incident shallowly and most of the students had no interest in digging that up. Not until now did I know it was an extensive massacre. Now I know more about my country's history. What a nice video. I hope you can make more videos about Taiwan :)

[@blyatman5891]

If you're interested in horror games, 'Detention' takes place during this time period. It's amazing.

[@mirceamuntean6439]

The music is creepy in that game

[@eruno_]

it's really good game.

[@davidjohnson1569]

There's also a film adaptation!

[@blyatman5891]

@@davidjohnson1569 I saw it. It was 'meh' IMO.

[@akanekanesaka4892]

I love that game ❤

[@mito88]

"...martial law was then introduced on the island, remaining in place for 40 years until 1987..." wow

[@krankenhaus1991]

Because of hot war situation, in Kinmen and Xiamen island area they bombarded each other with artillery fire until 1979. Taiwan (Republic of China) never signs any peace treaty or armistice with Communist China(People's Republic of China), technically they are still at war even today.

[@tomasdvorak7307]

​@@krankenhaus1991 I used to befriend a Kinmen girl. She told me when she was little, the kids only went to school on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, because Tuesdays and Thursdays were the bombing days. The PLA couldn't afford to spend the huge amounts of ammo, so the limited the shelling to two days a week. The invasion attempt and the heavy fights of the 1950 something having passed, this was something of a battle for show.

[@DickCheneyXX]

Say what you want but the damn commies were thoroughly pacified.

[@DickCheneyXX]

@@krankenhaus1991 The entirety of mainland China belongs to the RoC. Why would they sign an armistice with the communist junta temporarily occupying China?

[@davidlee7997]

The shell of artillary from PLA only have propaganda papers,nothing else.

[@cheef825]

"city of sadness" is a legendary movie about the start of this time period

[@chia-minlin6773]

Taiwanese jointed Japanese Army as volunteers, particularly aboriginal people, who formed Takasago volunteers (高砂義勇隊, Takasago Giyūtai) and performed superbly in the jungle of Southeastern Asia. Yes, Taiwanese were drafted starting 1944. My eldest uncle was drafted and served in Philippines. His troop surrendered due to no food, ammunition, and medicine. American treated his troop well. He was surprised American knew there were Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese in the troop and classified them accordingly. He was sent back to Kaohsiung after the war but no KMT personnel to receive them. He walked miles back home and totally shocked my grandparents and his siblings.

[@porksterbob]

Two comments. 1) there was no mention of Taiwan's insulation from the war in China. This is hugely important. First, Japan didn't draft Taiwanese people until 1944. By that time, they weren't really able to ship them to China or anywhere else to fight. There were tens of thousands of Taiwanese as interpreters attached to Japanese armies, but they were censored. In short, Taiwanese people were not really cognizant of Japanese atrocities. Second, Taiwan's role in the empire was as a food exporter. It had little industry. When the us sank all of Japanese shipping, Japan starved but Taiwan had more food than they knew what to do with. The lack of industry meant that it was bombed very little and it was never invaded. Third, Taiwanese people are not indigenous. Migration of Hakka and hokkien speakers started in the 1600's. It is like referring to the revolutionary war as being between the British and indigenous Americans. The actual aboriginal Taiwanese people were gradually dispossessed and largely obliterated by Chinese settlers in much the same way and on the same time scales as native Americans in North America. 2) They kicked all of the Japanese out. This was a big reason for the success of the land reform. They now had all of this land that used to belong to Japanese citizens that they could redistribute. When they took land from Taiwanese landlords, what they often did was compensate them with stakes in state industries. So you lose 1,000 acres but now you own 1,000 shares of China petrochemical.

[@ntt-5041]

So important facts

[@eruno_]

I think in this video he used "indigenous" to refer to benshengren in contrast with newcomer mainlanders. Which isn't entirely inaccurate as in a sense they were definitely more indigenous in comparison to civil war refugees.

[@porksterbob]

@@eruno_ this is true, but it kind of let's them off the hook. It reminds me of how the white Voortrekkers saw themselves as the indigenous south Africans... True, they got there earlier than the British, but they stole a bunch of land from the actual locals.

[@caniform-craze2080]

There were some Taiwanese troops deployed in Southeast Asia battles.

[@FM_1819]

​@@porksterbob Which "actual locals" the Khosian bushmen, wich makes sense, or the Bantu groups wich only migrated into South Africa arround 300 years before the Boers? How long does a group have to live in a land for them to be considered indigenous?

[@eruno_]

Because of White Terror most of people in Taiwan nowadays speak Mandarin as all other local languages spoken in Taiwan before KMT dictatorship established itself were banned. Only after democratisation could people once again speak native tongue, but sadly many already lost their non Mandarin language.

[@user-xg1ik4sh8k]

Taiwanese Hokkien is hardly spoken among the new generation, at least for those living in northern Taiwan. Half of my friends from Taipei can't understand Taiwanese Hokkien, and I also find it difficult to speak.

[@user-xg1ik4sh8k]

Fortunately, some groups are making efforts to revive Taiwanese Hokkien. In addition, some singers and bands create new pop music based on Taiwanese Hokkien. Although this is not enough to fully revive the language, it is at least a good start.

[@eruno_]

@@user-xg1ik4sh8k I think a lot of Northern Taiwanese can travel to Southern Taiwan and practice Tâi-gí freely.

[@DonnellGreen]

@@eruno_ 邁開雄健的步伐 擺動粗壯的臂膀 Move your feet, raise your arms. 我們是英勇的革命戰士 齊為反共大業奔忙 We are the bravest Revolutionary solders. Let's contribute ourselves to defeat the Communist. 精忠貫日月 勁節勵冰霜 Our loyalty shinning brighter than the sun and moon. Our mind tough as more than ice in the winter. 力能撼山岳 才足安家邦 Our force can even move mountains. Our knowledge may bring our homeland civilized. 前進！大步前進！前進！大步前進！ Forward ! Marching Forward ! Forward ! Marching Forward ! 走向群眾走向戰場 Embrace the people.Embrace the Battle. 前進！大步前進！ 前進！大步前進！ Forward ! Marching Forward ! Forward ! Marching Forward ! 走向革命最需要的地方 Marching to everywhere need us!

[@jelloMadison]

Who cares, the Sinitic (Han Chinese) languages and people are not native to Taiwan! Boohoo! Read up on how these shit Hokkien, Hakka Han Chinese did to the Natives of Taiwan.

[@bursegsardaukar]

Confession: I never heard about the white terror in Taiwan until the game ‘Detention’ came out.

[@anonymousphantom9644]

I believe the creators of that game did a wonderful job sharing this bloody history with others

[@No_Man_Is_An_Island]

12:39 It reminds me of Wales in the 19th century, they had a similar punishment for children caught speaking Welsh at school. They would be forced to wear the ‘Welsh (k)not’, a piece of wood with WN carved into it, hung around the kneck with string. If another child was caught speaking Welsh it would be moved onto them, and so on. At the end of the day, the last child wearing the WN would be caned. This ultimately resulted with children weaponising the language against each other, with those wearing the WN trying to get others to speak Welsh within earshot of teachers so that they can avoid the caning.

[@Dave_Sisson]

I have vast respect for Welsh culture and language, and sympathy for the people. But you have vastly overstated things and the comparison to the Kuomintang is offensive, no Welsh people were executed for defending their identity and many aspects of Welsh culture were actively promoted and even romanticised in the 19th century. Instances of the things you mention were rare and were stopped when authorities found out about them. David Lloyd George, Britain's Prime Minister during the First World War did not speak English until he was eight years old and was as culturally Welsh as was possible. If even half of what you claim was common, he would never have got into parliament, let alone become a wartime leader of Britain. By contrast, native Taiwanese were actively persecuted and many were killed, so it is outrageous, offensive and incorrect that you claim persecution of the two ethnicities was similar.

[@didyeaye2481]

​@@Dave_Sisson yeah, Lloyd George....just a local "boy done good" through hard work and grift....sure 👌 Great Britain...what a paradise.

[@jivvyjack7723]

We grew up under the British colonial rule. We would be fined or caned if we were caught speaking any languages other than English in school. Since we had no money to be fined, we would be caned.

[@edwardjing5539]

It’s an imitation of the similar practices in Britain and France.

[@Paciat]

Polish speaking kids (Poland didnt exist on XIX century maps) were just beaten in Prussia for talking Polish. In Russia they were expelled from schools cause education wasnt mandatory there. It was fine tho in Austro-Hungarian occupation.

[@andya.4253]

So, both the Kuomintang and the Communist did cruel atrocities

[@michaelguderian2699]

Yeah, the only difference is that at least Kuomintang (KMT) changed ways during the late 80s to early 90s while the CCP still keeps doing cruel atrocities until now.

[@EnzoFerrari63193]

Let's not forget a similar matter: the 2 Koreas.

[@miliba]

The KMT was indeed brutal but out of necessity to combat communists and the japanese. Had the japanese never invaded China, the KMT would probably not have killed so many people

[@firesideshats]

​@@michaelguderian2699 Don't even fcking use that excuse there as bad as each other

[@idkman3463]

Mostly just the KMT

[@tingting4980]

Thank you I did not know KMT where so brutal.

[@CalvinK300]

KMT were also very brutal before they fled to Taiwan during their campaign against the Communists. Such stories were often dismissed as Maoist propaganda. Currently Taiwanese are grappling with issue of ‘cancelling’ Chiang Kai-shek but I think they are more likely to look at it as a historical lesson or acknowledgement rather than retribution. Therefore, it is such an irony that KMT are supportive of peaceful reunification with Mainland China.

[@TechieWidget]

They were brutal and very corrupted. My great grandfather had to flee from being arrested by them after he exposed their embezzlement of US foreign aid in post-WW2. He once had ties with Kuomintang until he had enough of their corruption.

[@lilywang2348]

White terrorist wasn’t the worst thing they did. Anyone who said anything that make KMT look bad were taking and shot in the head for it. It was all done in secret. Also when the landed they made new money…so basically they made all the currency during that time worthless…

[@troy5094]

Of course they were bad in many ways. Why else would Chinese ppl at the time support the ccp who they genuinely felt were "liberating" them

[@noblemily]

My family was one of the mainlanders who came to Taiwan during 1949. It's pretty sad that I heard lots of stories from the elders, who describes the hard time when they literally gave up everything and came here to avoid CCP's atrocity. Still I cannot speak out for my ancestors, due to the conflicts between Kuomintang and Taiwanese people. I must say it is always those average working class people like us, who will be sacrificed or suffering from the game of powerful people.

[@lalitthapa101]

Puts it into perspective how China wouldn't have suddenly become like present Taiwan if the Nationalists had won.

[@TheBarca1889]

They would have purged the communist but Chiang Kai Shek wouldn't be nearly as spiteful as in our timeline.

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

It's a consensus amongst historians and alternative history enthusiasts that had the Nationalists won the war, they would end up no differently from the OTL PRChina of now. Chiang Kai-Shek did not hide his distaste towards the West and their history of meddling with their country; to him, China should grow larger and become the Middle Kingdom once more...

[@miliba]

China wouldve been like South Korea and India, eventually transitioning into a flawed democracy. The Tiananmen Square Protests might not have turned out as bloody as under CCP oppression

[@theotherohlourdespadua1131]

@@TheBarca1889 He purged the Commies alright .. and just about anyone that oppose him...

[@Vegas_Des]

Better dead than red

[@aourcewell]

Hokkien and Hakka are spoken by people on the mainland in Fujian province(across the strait) and Taiwan; the Kuomintang came from everywhere from China hence used Mandarin as a lingua franca among themselves. The Hokkien and Hakka people from Taiwan also originate from the mainland. The original people from Taiwan are the aborigines.

[@eruno_]

While that is true Taiwanese Hokkien speakers in Taiwan don't identify themselves with China or Chinese identity at all and call themselves Taiwanese and their language Taiwanese (Tâi-gí / 台語) instead.

[@mad_max21]

@@eruno_ Doesn't mean it's correct to call them aborigines. That's like calling a pasty redhead Irish-American with a name O'Brien a Native American.

[@Nathan-jh1ho]

Keep in mind the idea of a Chinese nation state hadn't fully developed yet around 18/19th centuries when those people immigrated to Taiwan. Also, until a few dacades before Taiwan was colonized by Japan, Taiwan wasn't seen as a propper territory of China. That plus being colonized by Japan for 50 years created an indpendent identity

[@eruno_]

@@mad_max21 I'm just saying that Taiwanese all encompassing civic identity often surpasses ethnic one.

[@martinfiedler4317]

@@mad_max21 "Native American" and "Native Taiwanese" are not comparable terms. The analogue for "Native American" in Taiwan is "Aboriginal Taiwanese".

[@doubaoa6428]

A more interesting topic would be how KMT became pro China after DPP took power.

[@panzerfan]

Not really all that 'more interesting'. KMT under Lee Tung-Hui is far more interesting.

[@ahkl77]

Nah, KMT was a defunct mainland governing party that retreated to Taipei. It’s DNA historically was to reclaim their place back in the mainland. However those hopes were dashed once USA normalised relations with communist governed China (mainland). What followed from that Beijing meeting is now fait accompli.

[@theolich4384]

The key is to define "China" you're talking about here. PRC and ROC (Taiwan's official name), then under KMT rule, laid out an intentionally ambiguous political framework in 1992 to put aside the dispute on which one is the legitimate China, so that they could focus on trade and culture exchanges. Relative peace ensued for the next 25 years. In time, demographics and in turn the politics changed in the ROC and the current ruling DPP downrightly refused to adhere to the "1992 Consensus" as their voter base tend to not recognize any "China" at all. This angered Beijing as it will diminish any hope of reunification of "China" (whichever one it goes by) and the relationship between two parties had been a downward spiral since 2016. The KMT, unable to come up with a new framework, was left paralyzed and divided. Some shifted toward nationalistic narratives not unlike the DPP's, while others tried to pick up whatever left of the Greater China identity wired in the KMT doctrine so that there might be hope to go back to the good old days. The takeaway is it's all in the names. I find the liberal use of "Taiwan" instead of "ROC" in the media questionable as it leaves the public blind of the very compliacted nature of the dispute going on here.

[@rockychang7595]

@@theolich4384 very good summary. The geopolitical position for the future of taiwan is quite convoluted with many variables and different factions

[@omenapuulta]

this is because CCP becomes another KMT , so KMT is happy to see a younger self ruling the mainland

[@magellantv]

An incredibly important event to cover - thank you for going so in-depth on this!

[@hhyy3173]

Great video!

[@sankarchaya]

its a horrible reminder that Chiang Kai-Shek was no liberal. The manichean notion of the cold war common in the anglophone world is a huge oversimplification

[@Nathan-jh1ho]

He just pretended to be one

[@eruno_]

I never seen anyone call him liberal.

[@stefanodadamo6809]

Any SOB was good as long as he wasn't a Commie. 😡

[@caniform-craze2080]

He purged leftists and anyone that had sympathized with them, this inadvertently made martyrs of socialists and increased the support for the Communist Party of China, it is part of the reason why the nationalists lost the civil war.

[@Trancymind]

Nationalism is not democracy. I don't know who told you that Chiang Kai-Shek was liberal. During that time in the early 1940's. Imperial Japan, KMT, Italy and Germany were nationalists. Their ideology is strongly based on their cultural roots and pride.

[@ohya867]

As a Taiwanese, i treasure our democracy.

[@jamescheng5002]

不用加am

[@ohya867]

@@jamescheng5002 哈哈謝謝我改一下抱歉英文差

[@fasces_stronksticks2939]

gaaaaay

[@miketacos9034]

Taiwanese people forged their democracy by themselves, not by outside powers. That is incredibly admirable.

[@JTA1961]

( no oil )

[@tomasdvorak7307]

Pretty much all democracies are built by internal strife. Import doesn't work, outside support might help here and there, in case the soil is already fertile. Yes, the presence of oil usually turns the soil into dezert.

[@Trancymind]

It was the only way to save the authentic chinese culture. Communist China destroyed their own culture.

[@user-pl6hv6nn5m]

( no oil )

[@WilliamCarterII]

what democracy lmao

[@ForOurGood]

Impressed. Thanks!

[@AdmiralKarlDonuts]

Whoah, never really expected this video. Nice to see a new video on the topic of the KMT White Terror. This reminds me of the stories my father and my great-aunt told me, as both participated in pro-democracy protests during the last years of the KMT dictatorship

[@eruno_]

my friends grandpa was among distributors of Formosa magazine during dictatorship, he's really proud of it.

[@kingking-ci1gf]

​@@eruno_ i salute your grandpa for fighting for our democracy

[@cjshow-zp6nh]

During the Cold War it was not so much about defending Democracy as it was a competition and proxy war between the capitalist and the communist realm. Latin American countries are some of them, examples like the military junta era of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia and more are US backed all because they are anti communist. In Asia besides Taiwan with Chieng Kai Shek, there is the Suharto era in Indonesia, the era of Ferdinand Marcos in Philippines, the military rule in South Korea until 1987 when it transitioned into a democracy. So in conclusion, the US would back any leader no matter democratic or authoritarian means as long as they are pro capitalist, anti communist and are willing to crush any communist uprisings around the world.

[@nixen3141]

​@@cjshow-zp6nh what happens if I am a politician that hates communism and USA in the same time??? And if my country is an excellent democracy like Swiss?

[@morgan97475]

I was wholly unaware of this. thank you for this info.

[@tsequeira2912]

Superb documentaries! Keep up the good work 👍👍

[@masterimbecile]

19:18 Instruction unclear: I compressed the bell button and now my phone screen is cracked.

[@silentbyte196]

Name matches the act 👍

[@micheldeniau5770]

On the last video's comment section, I expressed surprise to see the 228 not mentioned. Thanks for talking extensively about it

[@miahconnell23]

Living & working on Formosa taught me MUCH about party-politics that I’d been unable to see living in the USA my whole life. (The fish cannot “see” the water in his fishbowl.) I have a lot of love for this beautiful island nation. I was there for the 🌻 people’s actions and saw AMAZING non-violent protest that I’m sure would have been “violent-ized” had it occurred in the USA. Unrelated: I met a physician doing Doctor work-abroad, and he UNDERSTOOD the need to respect local beliefs and to communicate well. I hope more developing nations don’t choose CCP money and instead accept true sincere help from Taiwan. I hope the list of “recognized countries” grows. No place is perfect: for example, my workplace was very catty & gossipy and no lie, it DID make me cry. But the nation is wonderful, and I hope we all -in whatever way we can-do our parts to help Formosa remain beautiful & clever. ❤️. (And free. Police helped me in Taiwan earnestly. Police in the USA sometimes treat me too harsh without adequate reason.)

[@pizzatopia]

i also was at the sunflower movement, wanted to see it, document it, particularly as the government was calling the protests "VIOLENT"; but after spending an entire day there in Taipei outside parliament and other government buildings, i saw that old people were out, young people, married people with their toddlers, and NOWHERE was there any violence. The government was lying to the public, and i also did my part to destroy those lies by publishing my photos and stating what i had seen on youtube and facebook. When the Taiwanese decide to do something, they get together and they DO IT. They crippled the KMT effort to make taiwan an economic entity of the communist chinese, and i was very proud of them then. But... don't ask me about covid. They shat the bed on that one.

[@lynth]

Taiwan isn't a nation. It's a province of China and an inalienable part of China (a country of which the PRC is the only sovereign). Taiwan also isn't a democracy. You can't genocide natives all kill/oppress all socialists and brainwash all young people then start having elections and call yourself a democracy. It will take generations of decolonization and anti-fascist education after re-unification with the mainland until Taiwan can be called a democracy. You also can never be a democracy as long as there are parties in your country that are supported by hostile foreign governments like the US. There is no real opposition in Taiwan because it was eradicated. Currently, the opposition in Taiwan is the party that founded the country (which, ironically, is nowadays more pro-mainland).

[@genghissu1185]

Ah Formosa the old European Colonial name given by the invading land grabbers who also grabbed Saipan

[@LoC28C]

I have been to both sides of the straits. I have seen the politics and the people of both sides. These are my thoughts. 1. It doesn’t make any sense for any country to recognize the Government of China in Taipei because it was elected by only 23 million people out of the 1.4 billion people living there. 2. It doesn’t make sense to only listen to the voices of the minority of the people in a country and ignore the majority. I am saying this because all the countries around the world recognizes only one China. Out of all these Government only 13 recognizes the Government of China as sitting in Taipei, whilst the rest of the world including the USA and all their Allie’s recognizes the Government in Beijing as the legitimate Government of China. 3. Economically it doesn’t make sense to only trade and sell to the 23 million people living on a small part of the country and totally ignore the rest of the 99% of the rest of the country just because of politics. 4. From what I see there is democracy and freedom on both sides of the Straits. The only difference is that the people on the mainland knows that their freedom and democracy is not absolute but it is sufficient to allow the respect of the people around them in the rest of the country. Whilst the people on the island of Taiwan doesn’t know that their freedom is actually controlled by the narratives set by the CIA across the Pacific Ocean. 5. The people on the mainland knows that their freedom of speech and expression is limited so that they do not restrict the freedom of the other citizens to express their own thoughts and feelings too. On the other hand the people on Taiwan thinks that they have total freedom, however they did not know that their thoughts has been controlled and there is massive censorship by the Taiwanese Government. 6. The people on the mainland knows that there are state run media and the rest of the media does self censorship so as not to create unnecessary tensions and violence within society. The people in Taiwan have no idea that their media are all controlled and run by corporations aligned to foreign interests. 7. The people on the mainland have a direct channel to complain to the authorities and that these people in power have a KPI to maintain by addressing the concerns of the people within a fixe time frame or they will be punished for their lack of efficiency. There is no such practice in Taiwan.

[@loliloloso]

@@LoC28C I am sure you have never been in Taiwan. " the narratives set by the CIA across the Pacific Ocean"?? what a joke! 韭菜蠢蛋，別裝了！

[@yeshuajoshua3337]

Excellent! Such hidden gem of wisdom, knowledge, insights, summary, commentary n presentation

[@bing1001]

i needed this school tysm for explaing so well

[@deanzaZZR]

Really well done. 👏I spent 6 months in Taiwan mid 1980 so it technically was under martial law, but it didn't feel like it. The national anthem was played in movie theaters and F-5 jets did patrol regularly. It's amazing how much progress Taiwan and Taiwanese have made in recent decades.

[@Nathan-jh1ho]

In the 80s they already loosened up, turned a blind eye to oppoistion parties forming.

[@dynasty0019]

80’s Taiwan is definitely an interesting era. On paper it was still a single-party dictatorship, but in reality it was a modern society with rising civil liberties and a booming economy. It’s not unusual for some Taiwanese Boomers to look back at it fondly when talking about the KMT. Make no mistake though, political persecutions were still taking place at that time.

[@cjshow-zp6nh]

@@dynasty0019 Not only Taiwan, during the Cold War it was not so much about defending Democracy as it was a competition and proxy war between the capitalist and the communist realm. Latin American countries are some of them, examples like the military junta era of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Bolivia, Colombia and more are US backed all because they are anti communist. In Asia besides Taiwan with Chieng Kai Shek, there is the Suharto era in Indonesia, the era of Ferdinand Marcos in Philippines, the military rule in South Korea until 1987 when it transitioned into a democracy. So in conclusion, the US would back any leader no matter democratic or authoritarian means as long as they are pro capitalist, anti communist and are willing to crush any communist uprisings around the world.

[@miaya3898]

@@Nathan-jh1ho in the 90s and 2000s Taiwan was always in the news about their lawmakers punching and slapping each other. 😂

[@marvinfok65]

Well, Thailand is now run by a junta too, but you don't feel living in Thailand is like living in Nazi Germany or the Francoist Spain.

[@muic4880]

The 228 incident was not a coordinated uprising, but a simultaneous violent protests that sprung up over the island due to the behaviors of the nationalist forces in Taiwan from 1945 till Feb. 28, 1947. The protest went from demanding justice for abusing of police power to demanding of self governance quickly. And no, its not instigated by socialist or communist ideology, because the Japanese suppress them in Taiwan just as harsh as any anti-communist regime. But in the city of Taichung, the protest was indeed lead by Taiwanese communist party, where most of them would later escape to mainland China during the suppression by the nationalist military.

[@user-bs1zw1lo9c]

共产党害死的人何止一百个20万，在他们手底下含冤受屈的人又何止这些，一个镇反运动，枪杀了70万人，这70万人多数是参与抵抗日本的国军与亲近国军的人，你不要忘了，是蒋公救下了民族，遗憾的出现了228事件，但是东征北伐统一国家在帝国主义手里救下民族的是国民党

[@arnold3785]

Thanks it is always good to learn important issues in order to make the right judgements.

[@AxelPoliti]

Very well done. Thanks

[@worldmoonsaber]

My grand grandpa almost be taken to executed by KMT in 228 event. My grandpa still have great fear in heart. Thank you for introducing TW Morden History to Western World. Let world got chance to understand us. I feel gratified. My Childhood is 90's .At That time I always confused why our country is been ignored by the world. Why our country should been bullying by china. So many Taiwanese says we are the orphan of asia. whole country always self doubt. I am lucky live in the time that we are never an orphan. Our country is grow up ,Other people start to see us as a country.

[@AW-uv3cb]

台灣加油！我這個歐洲人覺得在很多方面（包括民主主義）台灣是亞洲最好的國家 🙂

[@st20332]

Ah man, this comment hit my heart We are ever so sorry for the history, Chinese bullying has worked up until now, but WE'RE HERE WITH YOU NOW! TAIWAN IS A BEAUTIFUL SOVERIGN NATION! Let us join arms to defend, and break down the global mafia known as the CCP!

[@tbagwell2814]

沒看到說台灣是中國的一個省嗎，人家什麼地方說了台灣是個國家？別自欺欺人了！

[@johnnyazer5779]

@@AW-uv3cb Couldnt of said it better myself

[@brokenbridge6316]

Well it's nice that Taiwan is starting to come to terms with this horrible incident. I think it's going to be a complicated issue to discuss for generations to come.

[@bobs_toys]

A huge difference is highlighted by the mainland response to that event that never happened

[@tomasdvorak7307]

"Starting to come to terms" is not a correct description of the state of affairs. The society has largely come to terms two decades ago. Anyways, those who were troubled by 228 and the subsequent events are mostly dead (of age not because of the white terror) and the youngsters can't be bothered to give a damn.

[@darrenmurray861]

@@bobs_toys those events that will have their anniversary on the 15th April to 4th June? Never happened 🙄

[@Laurence0227]

we have been working on it since the fall of facism in 1990 till this day, but this is a thing we Taiwanese work on for our nation to recouperate gradually, not a show for foreigners to feel one way or another, thus we rarely talk about it outside our own circle :P

[@brokenbridge6316]

@@Laurence0227---Well as long as you talk about it. Then it will mean you will eventually come to terms about this as a people on the whole.

[@nikolaigensitskii9482]

Thank you!

[@youxkio]

very well documented.

[@chia-minlin6773]

Taiwan revived more bombs from US Army Air Force and Navy than China from Japanese counterpart. Heavy bombing areas are airports, harbors, industrial area, and sugarcane refining plants (producing alcohol-the main fuel for Japanese military). Kaohsiung, the biggest harbor and industrial center, was bombed heavily. Additionally, the biggest Naval base and airport were also located in Kaohsiung.

[@perhapsme988]

I am originally from Keelung, Taiwan. My mum told me witness description of the first lot of KMT troops landed in Keelung, the main port in Taiwan at the time. When the KMT troops landed, they marched through the streets of Keelung. The locals immediately noted something about bulk of the troops vs their NCO's and officers. The NCO's and officers were in neat and new uniforms. But the bulk of the KMT troops were in tattered uniforms and in straw shoes. The NCO's and officers had better weapons but the ordinary troops had weapons clearly older. Some locals asked some of the officers the difference in the state of the uniforms. The officers explained that the bulk of the troops had been convicted prisoners in China who had committed violent crimes eg, rape, murder, robbery and gangster activities and similar. The criminals were given pardons for being part of the first troops landed in Taiwan. The officers said to the locals that, in case the Taiwanese weren't compliant, the criminal soldiers would have less qualms in beating up and killing Taiwanese people if needed. That is the KMT was always going to treat Taiwanese with suspicion and with murderous intend if needed. I went to a senior high school for a few months before we left Taiwan. My class has a maths teacher who looked like Mao's wife. One of the KMT kids (his parents were KMT officials) told us in the class about the maths teacher. She was a PRIMARY school teacher only in China. But as a KMT person, she got a job teaching maths at one of the most academically prestige senior high school in Taiwan. The KMT was never going to respect Taiwanese at all. They openly showed their violence towards the locals. Their discriminatory practices were blatant against Taiwanese. People ask why Taiwanese want their independence. This is one of the most important reasons. Would you be happy to be treated as a second class citizen by OUTSUDERS in your own homeland? Lastly, KMT and CCP share this 'we are all compatriots'. No, we are NOT at all whatsoever....

[@dabo5078]

If you don’t want to be compatriots you can either vacate the island or die.

[@user-qg8mp7vm5l]

是的，日本人很尊重你们。只让你们学医学农 做二等公民

[@BieZhang]

我完全支持国民党对台湾人的去殖民化政策

[@Jay-hb2xf]

@@user-qg8mp7vm5l 共產黨統治之下，沒有一線城市戶口的公民本來就是二等、三等公民了。不太能理解被共產黨當人礦、封建賤民對待的被統治者，哪來的優越感，有也是黨叫你這麼做的，就繼續優越感下去吧，實在完全不值得同情。

[@jcjko5504]

I am totally agreed with your statement here. Even nowadays, some Main lander still have this ''discrimination'' altitude. Just look at how some of KMT politician behave, even their whole life is depended on the very land of Taiwan and Taiwanese.

[@larrypan6811]

A very few great documentary about Taiwan’s past that is rarely made.

[@st840506]

Thank you for the video. I am a Taiwanese. The world need to know us more.

[@ctwu58]

Also Chiang Kai-shek’s grand grand son got elected as Taipei major this year 😗

[@robertos4876]

The country of Taiwan sits on a fault line between two continental plates which constantly pushes up its land mass by about two centimeter a year. As a result the country's landscape is constantly evolving just like its political system. Taiwanese people are apt at adapting to new technologies as easily as they adapt to new realities.

[@yuio823]

At that time, Taiwanese regarded joining the Japanese army as a proof that they were not discriminated against and were genuine Japanese citizens. In fact, the early Japanese government believed that Taiwanese were not even eligible to join the Japanese army

[@luisvelez5695]

That preventing people from speaking Their native language went on here in the USA. Spanish and Native American languages were not allowed in schools

[@josephyang9723]

Thank you for this content:) As a Taiwanese, I learn and rethink a lot about our history and how to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.

[@LoC28C]

I have learned about this 228 incident and according to the people who related this tragedy to me. This event has been ingrained in to the minds of Taiwanese people who will say “Never Again will there be any association between Taiwan and the mainland”. I seriously find this difficult to understand but I am not able to discuss this with any Taiwanese as not many speak English. To me, I think this 228 incident happened more because of the tension between the mainlanders in Taiwan and those who have been there for a long time. This is also compounded with the inexperience of the KMT Government to rule together with the low level of education of these law enforcers and authorities running the place. To make things even worse I think it is also because of the abject poverty these enforcers grew up with, and the lackadaisical will of the KMT Government to fight corruption. We all know that the KMT Government ruled with massive corruption on the mainland thus causing massive hunger, lawlessness, injustice and rampant crime. This situation I believe was also mainly contributed by the weak Qing Government rule which were totally out of touch with the people. What are your thought about this? Do you think that the Taiwanese people will be able to put this kind of thinking behind them any time in the future?

[@eruno_]

​@@LoC28C KMT was occupational force that occupied Taiwan until democratisation. KMT was never pro Taiwan, they were and are always pro China. As long as people recognise that everything becomes clear.

[@LoC28C]

@@eruno_ Unfortunately to say that the KMT is an occupational force is not only inaccurate but wrong as it is the legitimate Government of the country to which Taiwan belong. The KMT was not a foreign power, force or entity, therefore you cannot call it an occupational force. I know that Taiwanese Independence movement funded by the CIA has been changing the narrative about this over the past few decades by changing not only the education syllabus in Taiwan to teach younger generations an altered history with a different narrative but they also funded the corporations that controlled the media in Taiwan to help brainwash the people. Taiwanese has been undergoing continuous brainwashing since the Japanese occupation. The Japanese brainwashing was very good until they enlisted the troops from Taiwan to invade South East Asia. Many of these Taiwanese Japanese Soldiers who were ultimately brutal to the Chinese Community in South East Asia by indiscriminate execution of the ethnic Chinese residents in Malaya, the Philippines, Indonesia and Singapore also interacted with the Chinese community as a Chinese too. The main reason is because they also identify themselves as Chinese even while serving the Japanese Emperor.

[@eruno_]

@@LoC28C wumao troll. Taiwan is independent country, Taiwanese are independent people and there is nothing you can do about it. Read a book - "台灣人四百年史" by 史明 and educate yourself. Chhut-thâu-thiⁿ :)

[@nemaproblema6879]

unfortunately it will happen again and again, these progressives and communists always take the bait and fail to learn from history

[@Game_Hero]

I'd love going to the beautiful nation of Taiwan one day, the food, culture and landscapes simply are amazing.

[@lynth]

Taiwan isn't a nation. It's a province of China and an inalienable part of China (a country of which the PRC is the only sovereign). Ther

[@AW-uv3cb]

It truly is an amazing and beautiful country with great people and a very distinct identity. I highly recommend going there. Let's just hope that Xitler doesn't get it into his thick head to try and invade it, like he keeps threatening to do, just to distract Chinese people from the fact that he's royally screwed them on everything starting from economy to China's international reputation. 台灣萬歲！

[@kanaric]

@@lynth nobody cares about your stupid youtube comments. We know a bunch of kinds and societal rejects like posting their brainwashings here. Move on.

[@genghissu1185]

it is not a nation it is a provincial area of a Nation, the Indigenous Taiwanese suffered worse than the Ainu/Yezo people of Okinawa as the Japs wiped out many of them when they occupied Taiwan, I know people who are actual aboriginal Taiwanese who's families were mostly wiped out by the Japs and the KMT.

[@miahconnell23]

@@genghissu1185 In WW2, (I’m sure you’re aware. I’ve noticed that your writing and history knowledge are appreciably good.) American sailors / marines became familiarized with some brutal tactics and some brutal treatment of P.O.W.s by Japanese military men. Those Americans would call Japanese people “Japs.” Navy divers would call the Yokohama diving apparatus the “Jap-hat.” The generation of Americans that came after those military guys usually didn’t tell those military guys to change their language use. Most Americans nowadays try to be less-racist. The slang “Jap” for Japanese carries with it a certain anger and bitterness, so we no longer use it, except in quotations. When I teach about the Japanese atrocities committed upon the people of Nanjing, Manchuria, China, I tell the kids: “We’re learning about this so as to remember how bad people can be to one another: We must be vigilant and knowledgeable so that we don’t allow such things to ever happen again. I’m not teaching this material to get you to hate the Japanese. I don’t want you to seek revenge on anyone who didn’t do the horrific things: that would be unjust, and it would perpetuate racism, and it would put more evil into the world instead of less. The people who did those horrors are all already dead.” So, I also teach about how normal people of Japanese family / ethnicity (in the USA) were placed in concentration camps & denied their human rights on America’s West Coast during WW2… in all those lessons, I tell the kids: “don’t say ‘Japs.’ It’s derogatory racial slang.” Germany committed atrocities, too. So much time has passed, so many generations, and perhaps there is some Euro-centric favouritism as part of the cause: but the young people I teach don’t even know the words our G.I.s used with bitterness and anger labeling the Germans.

[@lucasjleandro]

What a hell of timing gentleman

[@nameless7699]

Even as an American I’ve come to realize in anything we are involved in our mentality is literally “the ends JUSTIFIES the means”😂

[@bigsarge2085]

Lest we forget.

[@alfajuj]

An excellent and well-researched episode.

[@hendersongriffith3990]

Excellent video... always been interested in Taiwan and also Hong Kong...thanks a million for clarity ✅✅✅🍇David

[@Normalaatsra]

I learned about this event from the visual novel game 'The Rainy Port Keelung'.

[@niknah]

I saw some of these 228 monuments when I visited there. Had no idea they were execution sites.

[@varudboonjoong5594]

I live in Changhua and it seems like everybody speaking two laguages, Mandarin and Hokkien( refered as Tai Yu). Young kids such as high school students or lower age don't speak Tai Yu but understand what the older said. But something interesting just happened last week. I helped a family move into a new house. They baught many bottles of Energy drinks for us. Their five years old son drank many glasses of it, start running around, laughing and speak Tai Yu to everybody without a single Mandarin word.

[@zennoix9984]

So young Taiwanese speaking Mandarin more than Taiwanese is a problem for Taiwan's democratization and independence? No offense but your comment kinda gives the vibe.

[@pizzatopia]

@@zennoix9984 you're attempting to put intent into what he said. He was relaying what he's witnessed, not that it's a bad thing or not.

[@consp51]

​@@pizzatopia All Chinese can speak one or two dialects, it's so common.

[@varudboonjoong5594]

@@pizzatopia That's right. Furthermore, it sounds weird to say speaking Tai Yu, as @zennoix9984 refered as Taiwanese, representing Taiwan democracy and independence because this language came from Fujian province, China and there are more people out there speaking this language.

[@johnnyazer5779]

I remember when I was twelve years old, I saw this 1927 picture of beheadings that Chang Kai Shek ordered. There was all these heads lined up in a row on what looked like a basketball court. He was a monster.

[@ezradja]

The Hokkienese and Hakkanese in Taiwan are feel closer to their Hokkienese and Hakkanese in Mainland than to those "invader" KMT (plenty of them from the Northern China eventhough the Generalissimo himself a Hokkienese). Remember this when we talked about the possiblility of Taiwan war in the future as a context.

[@xchazz86]

Excellent unbiased history lesson on the modern history of Taiwan, just goes to show in the geopolitical game of power and control there are no good guys.

[@user-hf8nb9mb4e]

Not withstanding the White Terror without the KMT army Taiwan would already be part of the PRC. The DPP voters are not allowed to know this.

[@Jedittee]

Chang Khai Shek's son got a medal for Austria's Anschluss

[@TweekHavingaBadDay]

ADOPTED son

[@Jedittee]

@@TweekHavingaBadDay still son, sent by fascist father to help fascists annex another country

[@rolandalcid7127]

Do not make a mistake. KMT didnt bring democracy and freedom upon the island Taiwan at all. Democracy and freedom have to earn not given.

[@user-bs1zw1lo9c]

可以看看大陆，大陆不给，看看人民有吗

[@consp51]

It's a natural progression, takes a great leader to make the change.

[@stefanodadamo6809]

In short, since the end of the 19th century, Taiwan was subject to not one, but TWO odious colonial regimes led by outside conquerors. The latter ending, somewhat fortuitously, in a functioning and prosperous democracy.

[@consp51]

It's a democracy, but it's somewhat functioning, split between US/China relationship and the identity crisis. I remember how the Congress meeting was always a shouting match, with physical fighting and pushing. And corruptions are still common to this day.

[@troywilliamson9524]

I visited Taiwan for study abroad a few months ago. I saw a monument erected for the victims of the White Terror and didn’t know what it was. This was a great explanation.

[@eruno_]

very important episode. In Taiwan ever since democratisation the official commemoration of white terror victims has become a rallying point for modern Taiwanese identity that is strongly intertwined with democracy and freedom of expression.

[@Wufei22]

Which you can't really have full freedom of expression because anyone offended enough can sue you . Free until inconvenient.

[@kingking-ci1gf]

@@Wufei22 freedom of speech doesn't mean you can be an asshole to anyone

[@bobs_toys]

​@@kingking-ci1gf Yes it does. The exceptions being things like slander or libel (which need to be false) or harassment of an individual. If I follow someone yelling at that person, I've got a problem.

[@wordscapes5690]

@@bobs_toys Western ideas of "freedom of speech" are VERY different from most of Asia. You cannot, for example, cuss someone out in public. You can be sued. Westerners are often getting sued for swearing at locals here in Taiwan. Don't always assume that your idea of "freedom" is the only one.

[@bobs_toys]

@@wordscapes5690 being sued for swearing at someone is very different to being sued for simply offending someone. I can be an asshole without swearing.

[@simonkevnorris]

Thanks for an interesting and informative video on a subject I knew little about. I was aware that Taiwan had been occupied by the Japanese for a number of years but very little of the post WW2 period.

[@tonysia6474]

Taiwan is an integral part of Fujian or Fukien, a coastal Chinese province in the South of China. The early people of Fujian are called Min Nan tribes. The territories ot Min Nan tribes before ranges from Fujian, down to Guandong, part of Guangxi and North Vietnam, across the sea are Ryukyu Archipelago and Taiwan island. After the fall of Min Nan tribes to the powerful northern army, many escaped and settled in some South East Asian islands like in Luzon (Lusong), Visayas, Mindanao and Borneo. Mindanao is Min Nan Tao or Min Nan To or Min Nan Do in different Chinese language. Tao or To or Do means island in English.

[@algrand52]

Being Filipino, I consider Taiwanese people as brothers and sisters. Didn't know they went through this dark chapter in their history and was so well-kept a secret that we're absolutely clueless it was happening just right next door from the Philippines. We thought the KMT was doing right by the Taiwanese people. Glad that the current PRC dispensation is doing something to rectify its past atrocities.

[@ekmalsukarno2302]

I hope this video mentions and explains the differences between the benshengren and waishengren in Taiwan, as well as how both groups fared under Chiang's dictatorship. If it doesn't, then there should be a video on this topic.

[@porksterbob]

It messed up and used "indigenous". The actual indigenous Taiwanese people were gradually dispossessed and assimilated by Chinese migrants starting in the 1600's.

[@lexsongtw]

I also have noticed that English sources don't cover the benshengren in the KMT much, but their conflict with the waishengren faction led to Taiwan's democratization. It's an fascinating aspect of Taiwan's history.

[@jinngeechia9715]

I believe Asianometry has a video on it.

[@cheef825]

​@@lexsongtw LTH was one of the best politicians of the 20th century both domestically and internationally

[@ekmalsukarno2302]

@@jinngeechia9715 I know who Asianometry is and I have seen his video on the waishengren. I just wanted The Cold War to talk about the conflict between the benshengren and waishengren when making a video about Chiang's dictatorship.

[@caseclosed9342]

The KMT also supported Apartheid in South Africa…

[@devilpen6565]

1956 International Banned Books George H. Kerr（Formosa Betrayed） This book keeps disappearing from libraries around the world

[@sionbarzad5371]

audio sync is a bit off with the beginning of the video

[@MohammedLiswi]

OMG I was not aware about this white terror history. Thanks a lot for sharing this information.

[@lilywang2348]

There are a lot more thing the KMT did that was far worse then white terror.

[@user-bs1zw1lo9c]

胡说八道，给你5毛吧，共产党害死的人何止一百个20万，在他们手底下含冤受屈的人又何止这些，一个镇反运动，枪杀了70万人，这70万人多数是参与抵抗日本的国军与亲近国军的人，你不要忘了，是蒋公救下了民族，遗憾的出现了228事件，但是东征北伐统一国家在帝国主义手里救下民族的是国民党

[@chia-minlin6773]

Most land is owned by Taiwanese landlords not Japanese. For example, there were “five big family”, who owned huge land, manufacturer plants, and even banks. It was an excellent policy for KMT, who was an outsider. This policy reduced the power of landlords greatly to make them can not resist KMT. Meanwhile, a large portion of Taiwanese were benefited and accepted KMT ruling.

[@jimfromdiscord.8904]

Wait 'til you see the lyrics to the Taiwanese Anti-Communist song lol, pretty nuts.

[@martinfiedler4317]

You mean a KMT Anti-Communist song?

[@user-bs1zw1lo9c]

共产党害死的人何止一百个20万，在他们手底下含冤受屈的人又何止这些，一个镇反运动，枪杀了70万人，这70万人多数是参与抵抗日本的国军与亲近国军的人，你不要忘了，是蒋公救下了民族，遗憾的出现了228事件，但是东征北伐统一国家在帝国主义手里救下民族的是国民党

[@pizzatopia]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/kJ6uiqJ7i9FnZ5o

[@xinchangli3062]

My grandfather was the survivor of white terror. His college classmates were executed by KMT just because they were holding a book club discussing communism. They just wanted to understand China governmnet, but KMT perceived them as betrayers, that’s all. My grandfather was bailed out from prisons by his professor. Although Taiwan is not perfect, our housing is too expensive, salaries growth is slow. Not to mention the threat from China, I’m still forever grateful that my grandfather, my dad’s generation turn our government from Tyranny to a democratic one.

[@kentershackle1329]

Thks for the effort highlighting this, too many western are BLIND regarding these..

[@ahcaileo]

It is worth mentioning that both Hokkien and Hakka are mainland originated dialects of Han Speech. There are millions of mainlanders who speak these two dialects as their first language even nowadays.

[@eruno_]

Tâi-gí also known as Taiwanese Hokkien has differences from mainland China Hokkien. Tâi-gí has its own writing system and its vocabulary differs.

[@consp51]

@@eruno_ But they can understand each other... only small differs

[@eruno_]

@@consp51 Serbian and Croatian language speakers can also understand each other, just like Norwegians and Danes. Still separate languages.

[@ptaing8]

Both Hokkien and Hakka are Chinese languages. There are no language call Taiwanese.

[@consp51]

@@eruno_ Writing system? Sounds like your imaginary writing system!

[@americaneagle76]

SAD, BUT TRUE.

[@mrunkn0wnx]

Pretty accurate

[@AZ-zk6fr]

Thank you very much for making this video, so that more people can learn about the history of Taiwan Now many people in the world are beginning to pay attention to Taiwan, but they all quote the KMT’s statement, not the views of the people of Taiwan

[@DarkFalconAnimations]

My family and I are on holiday in Taiwan right now!

[@pizzatopia]

come see hualien and taitung on the east coast, best places on the island!

[@eruno_]

​@@pizzatopia East of the island is underrated, it's really pretty!

[@DarkFalconAnimations]

Update: I’m back home in the UK, but I did see Hualien and Taroko Gorge. I also saw Taipei as well. I love Taiwan!

[@lukei6255]

Very interesting. Many countries claim to be democratic yet are simply authoritarian regimes. Singapore is one of them, or even Australia with the British head of state.

[@bernardedwards8461]

You dont understand that Singapore gained independence in the 60s with no natural resources of its own and has to import half its water. To have raised it from its original impoverished and underdeveloped state to the status of a first world nation that everyone respects in a mere 20 years was an amazing achievement unequalled by any former colony, which is why Singapore consistently votes PAP. It is a bit too authoritarian, but to pull off miracles in a tiny island which has less natural resources than any in the Carribean but has surpassed them all, you have to run a tight ship. Today Singaporeans can be proud of their country while I, a Brit, can only be proud of what my country used to be as I watch it rapidly decline.

[@stevenbaksh5545]

Who cares Singapore is successful it doesn't matter how you got there but you must be successful not like North Korea which has all the oppression probably even worse than Stalin's USSR but none of the economic benefits and development for the common people

[@dchey01]

@@bernardedwards8461 I agree. In order for a country to forge ahead single mindedly and fast, it need every member of that nation to make self sacrifices and head in the same direction. Cannot afford individualism and different self interest groups tearing the country apart heading in different directions. Hence, a full fledged authoritarian leader is needed (A good and not corrupt one). China learned from Singapore, hence it is able to do the same and better. Democracy is good for an already fully developed nation, with emerging secondary needs. It's like the second stage of governance, after the country have moved from under developed to developed, when all the basic essentials for the nation have been laid down. Democracy have its downside too, just look at what is happening in the US, where governance is literally taken over by huge self interest private cooperation and religious interest groups, and the ordinary people are left high and dry.

[@bernardedwards8461]

@@dchey01 I agree that to make a successful nation everyone needs to be working toward the same end, making their country better, but I dont agree that there is no room for individualism. Lee Kuan Yew was an individualist in that he had his own ideas about how to run a successful country which were totally different from the ideas of Boris Johnson & Co. Musk is an individualist in the sense that his ideas on how a social media platform should be run are totally different from the ideas of other social media bosses, but it is people like Musk who will make America great again, not people like Biden, Hilary and Boris. If the latter had been given the job of running Singapore as it was when Lee Kuan Yew took over, it would today be a miniature version of Jamaica instead of a country which has in many respects surpassed its former colonial master.

[@WorldEagleKW]

Hakka（客家话）is not a taiwanese language... It's a dielect of Chinese spoken also largely in the southern part of China...

[@karl-axelknutson909]

6:03 what does ”two two eight” mean?

[@eruno_]

February 28 massacre during which KMT killed many Taiwanese

[@unreliablenarrator6649]

It is very simple: both the PRC and ROC take the position that there is one China, including the mainland, Taiwan and various other territories, In fact, ROC makes greater sovereign territory claims (including all of Mongolia) and this is enshrined in the ROC constitution, which explicitly sates it can only be changed by constitutional amendment. There is no basis in either constitution for an "independent" Taiwan state. This is fundamentally important to understanding the status quo.

[@nohisocitutampoc2789]

Very interesting thèse vidéos from Asia, a unknown place here --Europe.

[@michaelreed4744]

Nice documentary. I hope that the country be free of dictatorship. ❤

[@peter4Flags]

I did not know about this. Thought (wrongly )that it was a fair government from the end of WW2

[@johnpaulnimes4843]

Hi Sir good afternoon I am a Filipino and one of your avid subscribers sir will you pls make a topic about the composition of National Assembly of Taiwan during cold war thank you

[@eruno_]

Republic of China (Taiwan) was one party KMT state until democratisation.

[@MrTerrorist]

You know how bad the Nationalist government was when the locals think Japanese rule was much better. (And this is reason why Japanese culture is well liked in Taiwan).

[@porksterbob]

Taiwan was able to sit out the war. They were a food exporter so they didn't starve. They had no industry so they were barely bombed. The Japanese didn't draft them until 1944 when it was too late to send them off of the island. Also, they didn't know about Japanese atrocities in China since news was censored.

[@uryen921]

Well the Japanese rule wasn't that bad even when you compared it with other colonizing power. They really put a lot of effort governing Taiwan, many ended in a good way. And when the KMT came to Taiwan, they did the opposite. That's why many Taiwanese people originally welcomed the mainlanders, started to hate them. It's like a betrayal.

[@DJNO4444]

I mean, the nationalist government was also so bad that people still prefer a genocidal megalomaniac over them

[@consp51]

@@uryen921 KMT basically was raised because of the invasion/war, an army doesn't make a great Government. Both CCP and ROC went thru the cycle.

[@waynemao1990]

@@uryen921 the Japanese colonizer treat Taiwan people as Japanese?

[@phyarth8082]

Mr. Chiang was given the name General Cash-My-Cheque by U.S. officials to whom he regularly went for financial aid while fighting the Japanese and Communists. During and after the wars, his regimes were seen as plagued by corruption. Very often USA backed anticommunist had very taste for lavish lifestyle. People whom main purpose was cash could not won civil war in mainland. So called cultural genocide same as in Ireland where native language is forgotten, all education been in English same happened in Taiwan.

[@yurrr4592]

As a Taiwanese citizen myself ppl must remember Taiwan was closer to nationalist than democracy back then especially during Chiang Kai Sheks regime, Taiwan didn’t turn towards democracy til his son or grandson forgot which one think it’s son tho reformed the country and turned it democracy. Chiang Kai Shek had massive flaws w the way he ran things like corruption and questionable choices

[@thornados4969]

One big reason because of KMT dictatorial brainwashing of Taiwanese people without access to the true history. Democracy in internet age has opened up the truth among Taiwanese which arises the love of their country of birth - Taiwan. Chiang-Ching Kou even learned to love Taiwan by trying to learn and best to speak Taige - to be closer with Taiwanese. "At a meeting with twelve local elders in the summer of 1987, the President said calmly but with deep feeling, "I have been living in Taiwan for 40 years; I am also a Taiwanese." At the time, the gesture could have been misinterpreted as only a friendly overture to native Taiwanese, but I knew it was borne out of a special feeling that had built up over time in the inner depths of his heart."

[@yetigriff]

The punishment for speaking Taiwanese was used in Wales by the English only a few decades before.

[@waynemao1990]

So called Taiwanese is just a dialect of China in south fujian

[@dkmark7802]

Is important to say that Hokkien and Hakka are not languages native to Taiwan Island, but from the mainland, mainly from the Fujian Province. Taiwan has some indigenous languages that are not related to the Chinese ones, like Mandarin, Hokkien or Hakka, but those three are spoke not by the people from the ROC led migration or the migration of Chinese people that happened before and their descendants, but from the locals.

[@eruno_]

at this point Taiwanese Hokkien and Hakka are indigenous languages of Taiwan like any other. The only language imposed from outside relatively recently is Mandarin.

[@dkmark7802]

@@eruno_ We can only say that Hakka and Hokkien are native languages to Taiwan if we adopt a complete arbitrary standart. These populations aren't native from the island, this is a undeniable fact. At the same time, yes, the insertion of Mandarin in Taiwan is more recent, but this don't make it more or less outsider than Hakka or Hokkien. When you say that both of these languages are native to the island, and these people, you are erasing the aboriginal population of Taiwan Island, that is being forgot in all this discussion even though it is very important to the study of the languages dissemination in Southeast Asia and Oceania. It would be the same to say that English is a indigenous languages to the US, or Portuguese to Brazil, Spanish to Mexico, but in reality this is far from true.

[@eruno_]

@@dkmark7802 The people of Taiwan who have been speaking Hokkien and Hakka derived languages at this point live on the island for more than thousand years. These mentioned arrivals also been mixing with aborigines since their arrival. I think calling them natives at this point is warranted. Of course aborigines of Taiwan also deserve all the recognition and respect they can get, no one is arguing otherwise.

[@darkslatesky]

Great documentary. Thanks for sharing TW story.

[@youngmasterzhi]

12:53 So basically, it’s the Chinese version of the “Welsh Knot”!