｜ Chapter 2 ｜ Lifting of the Martial Law: Defending Absolute Freedom of Speech September 10, 2021: Interview with Chen Cheng-jan recalling the Taiwan Independence Association incident. Photographer: Huang Yen-wen May 15, 1991: Tsing Hua University's Liao Wei-cheng Rescue Association March occupied Taipei Main Station. Photographer: Chiu Wan-hsing 74 After martial law was lifted, observed Chen Cheng-jan, there was rapid and vigorous development of diverse and long-suppressed social forces. The KMT was also faced with stronger and stronger challenges. From central to local elections, the number of seats won by the KMT was in continuous decline. After taking office, President Lee Teng-hui advocated for local reforms, which made the conservatives forces in the KMT anxious. That is why, Chen Cheng-jan believes, they decided to crack down on a “big case” to not only intimidate pro-independence activists but also let the pro-localization faction within the party know that “pro-independence movements must be shut down”. Therefore, the Investigation Bureau arrested people from student movements, social movements, and indigenous rights movements, fabricating the Taiwan Independence Association incident and cracking down hard with “Article 2-1”. But their scheme backfired. Protests erupted almost simultaneously, the situa- tion developing like a daily high-stakes drama. First, the students and faculty of Tsing Hua University established the Liao Wei-cheng Support Association that very morning and launched the “Protest Against Campus White Terror” and the “Rescue Liao Weicheng Movement”. NTU also took action, the “Wild Lily” generation gathering once more. That night, over 200 students from NTU and Tsing Hua University surrounded the Taipei Office of the Investigation Bureau to demand the release of the accused. DPP legislators Lu HsiuYi, Hung Chi-chang, and Cheng Yu-chen as well as Professor Yeh Chi-cheng of NTU’s Department of Sociology also rushed over to visit the prisoners and make negotiations. By the 10th, other universities had joined the cause. Tsing Hua University professors issued a joint statement accusing the authorities of “bringing the spirit of the martial law back to life”. Even during an era without the Internet, just telephones and fax, the statement was quickly signed by over 180 professors. 75