President Chiang Kai-shek: from the Heroic Generalissimo to the Dictatorship Symbol

Abstract

This article aims to study 1) the changing status of the late President Chiang Kai-shek in Taiwanese society and 2) the current and future perceptions of Taiwanese towards President Chiang Kai-shek. The research covers the period from 1947, when Taiwan was ruled by the Republic of China, then under the 38-year martial law (The White Terror period) during Taiwan’s transition into a democratic country. After democratization, several investigations were conducted, including the establishment of the Transitional Justice Commission, to investigate the massacre on 28 February 1947 and to prosecute the perpetrators during the martial law period. The investigations concluded that the late President Chiang Kai-shek was responsible for the massacre. As a result, Taiwanese society faces the dilemma of whether they should continue to respect the late President as a great leader or to consider him a dictator and destroy his statues and symbols. The study concludes that age and political ideology affect the perceptions of the Taiwanese. The older generation respects the late President more than the younger generation and the Kuomintang party (KMT) supporters respect the late President more than the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) supporters. This paper based its studies on literature reviews, interviews by a questionnaire with five Taiwanese youths on their current and future perceptions of President Chiang Kai-shek, and uses a transitional justice framework to explain this social phenomenon in Taiwan.