Today marks the 70th anniversary of the February 28th Incident in Taiwan. First off, salute to those who sacrificed their lives for a just society, and for a better Taiwan. It began with a lone hawker selling unauthorised tobacco. Chief Executive Chen Yi saw protests against his rule as a Communist conspiracy, and requested Chiang Kai-Shek to send in troop to suppress the protests. February 28th would go on to become one of the most painful chapters of modern Taiwanese history. An entire generation of Japanese-era elites would then be cleansed by the KMT government under Chief Executive Chen Yi, and it was arguably a huge turning point in Taiwanese history - the day where separatist sentiment was born.
It was not until the mid-1990s when President Lee Teng-Hui rehabilitated the victims, and February 28 is now a national holiday in Taiwan. It was also the beginning of White Terror, the martial law (not lifted until 1987) and the 40-year-long opposition movement.
1. What if it did not happen at all? Was it inevitable that something similar (for example, the unauthorised sale of salt being censured) would happen, and the KMT would react similarly? Or would it have to involve an earlier POD, for example, if Chen Yi was not appointed Chief Executive of Taiwan?
2. In the absence of February 28th or similar incidents that may happen in TTL, would the KMT declare martial law anyway and once they begin to lose control of the entire mainland? Would the White Terror have happened anyway? Would there have been much better relationship between local Taiwanese and mainlanders who fled Communist rule? How would the opposition movement evolve from there?
It was not until the mid-1990s when President Lee Teng-Hui rehabilitated the victims, and February 28 is now a national holiday in Taiwan. It was also the beginning of White Terror, the martial law (not lifted until 1987) and the 40-year-long opposition movement.
1. What if it did not happen at all? Was it inevitable that something similar (for example, the unauthorised sale of salt being censured) would happen, and the KMT would react similarly? Or would it have to involve an earlier POD, for example, if Chen Yi was not appointed Chief Executive of Taiwan?
2. In the absence of February 28th or similar incidents that may happen in TTL, would the KMT declare martial law anyway and once they begin to lose control of the entire mainland? Would the White Terror have happened anyway? Would there have been much better relationship between local Taiwanese and mainlanders who fled Communist rule? How would the opposition movement evolve from there?