Taiyuan Incident (), was an anti-government rebellion in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

in 1970. It was conducted by

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

s and guards at Taiyuan Prison in Donghe Township,

Taitung County Taitung () is the third largest county in Taiwan, located primarily on the island's southeastern coast and also including Green Island, Orchid Island and Lesser Orchid Island. The seat is located in Taitung City. Name While its name means "East ...

, as well as some aboriginal youths sympathetic to their cause. The incident was classified by the government as a

prison riot A prison riot is an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators, prison officers, or other groups of prisoners. Academic studies of prison riots emphasize a connection between prison conditions ...

, while many

Tangwai The ''Tangwai'' movement, or simply ''Tangwai'' (), was a loosely knit political movement in Taiwan in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in the Legi ...

elements considered it to be a failed uprising against the ruling

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT) is a major political party in the Republic of China (Taiwan). It was the one party state, sole ruling party of the country Republic of China (1912-1949), during its rule from 1927 to 1949 in Mainland China until Retreat ...

regime.

The Incident

In February 1970, a group of political prisoners in Taiyuan Prison, led by Chiang Ping-hsing, secretly laid out a plan to take over the prison and began a guerrilla campaign aimed at the realization of

Taiwan independence Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of Chi ...

. They were able to convince some fifty Taiwanese prison guards and a number of aboriginal youths to join their cause, and planned to seize the nearby army arsenal, radio station, and a fleet docked at Taitung harbor. At noon on February 8, launched an attack on and disarmed six guards, killing one. However, the noise alerted prison authorities, thwarting further action. The prisoners could not unlock nor breach the gates of other blocks, and the commander of the guard company, who was collaborating with the prisoners, advised them to escape into the mountains. Soon after the prisoners escaped, the prison was taken over by the infamous

Taiwan Garrison Command The Taiwan Garrison Command () was a secret police and national security body under the Republic of China Armed Forces on Taiwan. The agency was established at the end of World War II, and operated throughout the Cold War. It was disbanded on ...

, with its deputy commander General Liu Yu-chang taking command personally. The ROCMC Special Service Company and the ROCMC Amphibious Reconnaissance and Patrol Unit (also known as the Frogmen Unit) units were dispatched to secure the prison, and the entire guard company was arrested and interrogated. A forward command center was also established, and thousands of police officers, soldiers, and aboriginal youths were sent to locate and apprehend the prisoners. All prisoners were arrested by February 23.

Aftermath

In all, five prisoners and more than twenty guards were sentenced to death, while one prisoner claimed he was forced to participate and was sentenced to 15 and half years. An unspecified number of collaborators also received various sentences from 15 years to life. The authority believed that more were involved, but the prisoners claimed that no one else was involved in planning the uprising. Not long after the incident, all prisoners of Taiyuan Prison were transferred to the so-called "Oasis Villa" on Green Island.

References

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External links

台灣歷史辭典：泰源事件史明：台灣獨立建國運動第一件武裝起義-泰源事件
Taiwan independence movement 1970 in Taiwan 1970 riots 1970 protests Protests in Taiwan Prison uprisings Rebellions in Asia