thumb|400px|The Kaohsiung Eight arrested. From left to right: [[Chang Chun-hung, Huang Hsin-chieh, Chen Chu, Yao Chia-wen, Shih Ming-teh, Annette Lu, .]]
The Kaohsiung Incident, also known as the Formosa Incident, the Meilidao Incident, or the Formosa Magazine incident, was a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations that occurred in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, on 10 December 1979 during Taiwan's martial law period.
The incident occurred when Formosa Magazine, headed by released political prisoner Shih Ming-teh and veteran opposition legislator Huang Hsin-chieh, and other opposition politicians held a demonstration commemorating Human Rights Day to promote and demand democracy in Taiwan. At that time, the Republic of China was a one-party state under the Kuomintang, called Dang Guo, and the government used this protest as an excuse to arrest the main leaders of the political opposition.
The Kaohsiung Incident is widely regarded as a seminal event in the post-war history of Taiwan and the watershed of the Taiwan democratization movements. The event galvanized the Taiwanese community into political actions and is regarded as one of the events that eventually led to democracy in Taiwan.
Background
From 1949 until the 1990s, Taiwan was effectively a one-party state under the rule of the Kuomintang (KMT). During the late 1970s many opponents of the KMT seeking democracy gradually organized themselves as an opposition camp, following the establishment of the magazine Taiwan Political Review by Kang Ning-hsiang in 1975. These opponents called themselves "Tangwai", literally meaning "outside the party". In its fifth edition on 27 December 1976 it published an article entitled "Two States of Mind – An Evening Discussion with Fou Cong and Professor Liou" which resulted in the revocation of the publisher's license. In the 1977 election, Tangwai expanded support significantly and won more seats than ever before. The outcome of the election demonstrated the potential of Tangwai as a quasi-opposition party to the ruling KMT and laid the ground for the ensuing mass movement. President Chiang Ching-kuo immediately postponed all elections without a definite deadline for its restoration. Tangwai, which had won steadily expanding support, was strongly frustrated and disappointed about Chiang's decision since it suspended the only legitimate method they could use to express their opinions. On 20 April, the government impeached Magistrate Hsu Hsin-liang for participating the historical first democratic rally in the Martial law period.
In May 1979, Formosa Magazine was established by Huang Hsin-chieh with Hsu as the director aiming at consolidating Tangwai membership. The initial issue sold out all of its 25,000 copies, the second and third issues sold almost 100,000 copies, and the fourth issue sold more than 110,000. Nonetheless, Hsu's magistracy position was revoked by the government in 29 June, and he went exile to U.S. on 30 September. Tangwai held many public gatherings and protests, without official permission. The KMT response was limited, such as sending police in riot gear but not suppressing the gatherings. This low-level reaction gave Tangwai confidence in its own power and it stuck to the radical approach.
The event on 10 December 1979 started out as the first major Human Rights Day celebration on the island. Until that time the authorities had never allowed any public expression of discontent.
Between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. that afternoon (four hours before the demonstration commemorating Human Rights Day started, and before any irregularities had taken place), the military police, the army, and the police had already taken up positions when the demonstrators arrived.
When the event took place during the evening, the military police marched forward and closed in on the demonstrators, then they retreated again to their original position. This was repeated two or more times. The battalion commander explained that the purpose of this exercise was to cause panic and fear in the crowd and also to provoke anger and confusion. Political demonstrators clashed with troops sent by the KMT.
News reports
Mainstream media had long been controlled by the authoritarian KMT government. The contemporary domestic newspapers were biased about the Kaohsiung Incident and framed it as a violent mass event. China Times, United Daily News, and KMT-owned Central District News also incorrectly stated that the Tangwai protesters were motivated by a pro-independence mindset. It also stated that they were working to subvert the Republic of China in cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party. Such news reports caused negative public opinion. This negative public opinion was used by the media as further proof to attack and condemn the Tangwai. the mainstream Taiwanese media refuted what the larger international media reported as biased rumors regarding the incident.
Legacy
The time period experienced a rising middle class, and a more open-minded Kuomintang (KMT) ruling regime that allowed some fostering of political opposition.