Taiwan Independence Movements during the Nationalist Government Control

Initially, the Taiwanese (including aborigines) accepted the Nationalist Government control of Taiwan after the Japanese surrender in 1945, without much resistance. However, Chinese Governor Chen Yi's oppression and exploitation of the Taiwanese, which exceeded that of the Japanese, were more than the Taiwanese could bear, and it culminated in the island-wide anti-Chinese uprising of February 28, 1947. There were a few conferences of the Taiwanese revolutionaries in Hong Kong during the summer of 1947. Among major members were Thomas …

…a new, free, democratic nation by the will of the Taiwanese. This nation would be independent and separate form the People's Republic of China. They were promptly arrested, but he was lightly sentenced to eight years' imprisonment because he is an internationally known scholar. After substantial pressure and bad publicity in the international press, he was pardoned (essentially changed to house arrest). Professor Peng escaped from Taiwan on January 2, 1970, and took political asylum in Sweden.