The Taiwanese Civil War was a period of history in the history of Taiwan lasting from 2027 to approximately 2038. While it is commonly known as a "Civil War," in reality it was fought between a number of different factions vying for control over the Island.
Origins[]
In 2020, the Panmujom Peace Accord officially ended the Korean war and unified the Korean Peninsula under the newly-created Federal Republic of Choson. Meanwhile, a politically resurgent Japan began to reach out to its neighbors, particularly China and Japan, and rely less on the United States for support. Such developments, especially Sino-Japanese rapproachment, lead American President Frank A. Gallagher to worry that the US would lose a foothold in Asia. As a result, the Americans began to seek to tighten its grip on Taiwan, and requested that the Taiwanese government host a military base.
In November of that year, incumbent President Tsai Ing-Wen, assisted by Western advisors, managed to secure a second term as President of Taiwan. Tsai, during this time, made significant changes to the Constitution, including making it easier to obtain Taiwanese citizenship, reorganizing the Legislative and Judicial branches of the government, and abolishing the Control Yuan. Such decisions were justified as being a part of "transitional justice" and necessary "to break from the fascist heritage of the past," but they ultimately caused much chaos within the Taiwanese government.
Fearful of a DPP loss, Tsai in 2023 gave foreign Permanent Residents living in Taiwan their own constituency, known as the "Special Constituency of Foreign Residents in Taiwan". This Special Constituency initially guaranteed 11 (and later 17) seats for "naturalized or non-citizen Permanent Residents" within the Legislative Yuan. The DPP also changed the electoral system for President to that of an indirect democracy, with an electoral college rather than a direct vote.
A Perfect Storm[]
The DPP's victory was further ensured by British and American "observers" in the 2024 election. Jennifer Araneta Lu, an American of mixed Caucasian, Filipina and Taiwanese ancestry, was ultimately elected as President. This was in spite of the fact that she was granted citizenship by an Executive Order only six weeks before declaring her candidacy, and the fact that she was unable to speak either Mandarin or Hokkien fluently. Araneta proved to be hugely unpopular, even amongst former supporters of the DPP. She was not only considered by some to be uneducated, but for many Taiwanese, she was seen as being an American puppet, even by many those who were solidly opposed to unification with China.
One of the earliest acts of the Araneta government was to create more Special Constituencies (SCs). A new constitutional amendment also mandated many restrictions on the operation of Special Constituencies, which effectively would guarantee that they would vote in favor of the DPP. Araneta's regime was also marked by cronyism, corruption, discrimination against local Taiwanese )in the form of Affirmative Action policies), and restrictions on the freedom of the press.
Social policies such as giving stipends to mixed-race couples and changing the official language of the country to English, were seen as a way of attempting to permanently change the fabric of Taiwanese society. Such dissatisfaction with the regime eventually precipitated the seeds of rebellion against the Araneta government.
The Beginnings of the War[]
By September of 2027, after the cession of "all South Sea Islands to the Republic of the Philippines," the situation reached a boiling point. Along with increasing inflation that made daily life very difficult for the middle class, the social resentment caused by "Transitional Justice" now came to the forefront. The American military helped to suppress protests. Aided by the Special Constituencies, hate-speech laws were quickly enacted to prohibit criticism of Araneta's presidency. On September 22, 2027, American soldiers raided the offices of a paper in Taichung that printed articles unfavorable to the regime, and in the ensuing firefight, six Taiwanese and one American were killed. This sparked further protests around the island, and chaos ensued.
Out of this chaos, the island became sharply divided. The various factions fighting in the Taiwanese Civil War could be grouped into 4 main classifications:
- Those who supported the Araneta regime
- Those who supported the creation of a "Republic of Taiwan" without American military presence
- Those who supported the reviving the Republic of China
- Those who supported the unification with the People's Republic of China
For the most part, the latter two were the most opposed to the American puppet regime of Araneta. Many of the groups which fought in the Taiwanese Civil War were in fact independent militias. Some of the larger militias had financial support from foreign countries. In particular the "National Restoration Army" (復國軍) had backing from Japan, while the "Support Virtue Association" (義興大會) was bankrolled by Russia and China. A number of competing ideologies and religious affiliations also motivated the various cliques and militias, but affiliations were not always clear. In fact, various sects often fractured alongside political lines, giving rise to some new religious movements.
The official "beginning" of the war is marked by the December 10th Incident, when a local Taiwanese militia attacked an American military installation in Kaohsiung.
Outcome[]
Eventually, the "Legion of Heaven and Earth" (Chinese: 天地軍團), formed as a merger between various smaller factions, became victorious after capturing Taipei in the north and Tainan in the south. The American occupation forces were forced to retreat, and members of the Araneta regime, including their American, Australian, and Israeli advisers were executed publicly.
In response, the United States was forced to recognize the newly-formed (but ultimately short-lived) Republic of Taiwan (台灣共和國). The People's Republic of China recognized this "Free and Independent Taiwan" in name, although some scholars debate whether or not the Republic of Taiwan was in reality a Chinese puppet state.