After the Martial Law period: the Homeward movement and Taiwan’s struggle for democracy (1980-1992)
Open Access
Author:
Tzou, Mi Ni
Area of Honors:
History
Degree:
Bachelor of Arts
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Kathlene T Baldanza, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Kathryn Elizabeth Salzer, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Blacklist Homeward Movement White Terror Criminal Code Article 100 The KMT Campus Spy Taiwan's Independence WUFI Martial Law Democratic Movement Taiwan
Abstract:
This project is an oral history of Taiwanese leaders in World United Formosans for Independence, who organized the Homeward movement (Fan xiang yun dong 返鄉運動) in the U.S. in order to fight against the Kuomintang’s dictatorship in the 1980s. The goal of this project is to present Taiwanese democratic struggles and progress after the end of Martial Law in 1987. I argue that the formation of democracy in Taiwan was due to a series of events rather than only the abolition of Martial Law. This has been done by studying the history of Taiwan’s democratic progress and the documentation of the 100 Activist Union, as well as interviewing five key leaders of the Homeward movement. I show that this movement put an end to the blacklist system as well as the dictatorial law, the Criminal Code Article 100, which is a historical milestone for liberty in Taiwan. This oral history project aims to provide a closer account of this important episode in the Taiwanese peoples’ struggle for democracy.
