｜ Chapter 1 ｜ Martial Law: Derailing From International Human Rights Trends III. The Legacy and Resurgence of Tangwai Magazines The Charter of the United Nations respects peoples’ right to self-determination. Throughout the 1960s, many former colonies in Africa gained independence and statehood, enabling China’s communist regime to gain support from more emerging countries during the vote on the question of the representation of China in the United Nations General Assembly. In 1970, US President Richard Nixon began to form relations with the CCP in order to keep the Soviet Union in check. This further threatened the ROC government’s seat representing China in the UN. On October 25, 1971, the 26th session of the United Nations General Assembly passed Resolution 2758, the subject of which was “Restoration of the lawful rights of the People’s Republic of China in the United Nations”. After years of diplomatic competition, the People’s Republic of China obtained representation of China. At the time, the Taiwanese media heavily criticized the UN for “shunning the ROC for communist bandits”. The news was filled with headlines like “The International Community Caved to Illegitimate Tides” and “Communist Forces Gone Rampant”. Schools put out slogans like “Support President Chiang with Full Force” and “Remain Strong and Steady in the Face of Adversity”. In reality, however, the people were shaken, there was panic in society, and intellectuals felt deeply troubled. Advice on Saving the Nation for Its Survival—Lei Chen’s Sincere Suggestions to Save the Nation (1972) Lei Chen was released from prison in autumn of 32 1970. Sensing that the ROC was about to lose its seat in the UN, he anxiously wrote down his thoughts about the future possibilities of Taiwan in his diary. The following year, he compiled the Advice on Saving the Nation for Its Survival—close to 30,000 characters in length—with the help of Fu Cheng, putting forth suggestions like “immediately announce the establishment of the Democratic State of ChinaTaiwan”, formulate a new constitution, implement political and military reforms, and practice democratic constitutionalism, as to gain international support with “freedom and democracy” to resist the CCP’s ambition of annexation. On January 10, 1972, Lei Chen sent the original copy of Advice on Saving the Nation for Its Survival to President Chiang Kai-shek and 4 copies to Vice President and Premier Yen Chia-kan, Vice-Premier Chiang Ching-kuo, Office of the President Secretary-General Chang Chun, and National Security Council SecretaryGeneral Huang Shao-ku. He wrote in the letters that “this article was not shown to anyone else nor will it be published”, hoping the regime would follow the advice while saving face. He received no replies. In fact, seasoned KMT diplomats Yeh Kung-chao and Yang Hsi-kun already felt the international tide turning from the diplomatic frontlines and had repeatedly advised Chiang Kai-shek to accept the existence of “two Chinas” but were rebuffed with the phrase “gentlemen and thieves cannot coexist”. After the ROC lost its seat in the UN, Yang Hsi-kun even suggested that it change its name to “Republic of China-Taiwan”. According to the declassified US Department of State Telegram “Taipei 5869”, Yang Hsi-kun had hoped that the US would support and convince Chiang April 16, 1975: The body of President Chiang Kaishek being transported to the Cihu Mausoleum in Taoyuan. Students were told by military instructors to kneel along the road to see him off. Courtesy of: Central News Agency Kai-shek to hold a nationwide referendum to decide Taiwan’s future and to establish a new constitution. In other words, after the ROC lost its seat in the UN, intellectuals in Taiwan, regardless of mainlanderislander status, from Lei Chen—who opposed Taiwanese independence in the past—to diplomatic professionals working within the system, all had ideas about Taiwan’s future that were consistent with the 1964 Declaration of Formosans for Self-Salvation penned by Peng Ming-min and others. Although the Chiang regime did not reply to Lei Chen at the time, most of the suggestions proposed in Advice on Saving the Nation for Its Survival did appear in Chiang Ching-kuo’s major policies. For example, financial and administrative resources were no longer given exclusively to the military, instead being invested in programs that benefited Taiwan, such as the Ten Major Construction Projects. “Elections for a small increase in legislative seats”, which needed to be re-elected regularly, started to be held in 1972 (36 regional and occupational seats for the Legislative Yuan and 15 seats representing overseas nationals chosen by the President for a term of three years). However, representatives elected by the Taiwanese people still accounted for only around 10% of parliamentary seats. Taiwan Political Theory—The First Tangwai Magazine to Integrate Elections (1975) Chiang Kai-shek passed away on April 5, 1975, after which the ROC suffered a series of diplomatic losses, with Vietnam, the Philippines, Thailand, and other countries cutting diplomatic ties. The number of countries with diplomatic ties to the ROC dropped to just 28, with the Vatican being the only European country left. With the Taiwanese people feeling lost upon suddenly becoming “the orphan of Asia” and the “first elections for the second increase in legislative seats” set to take place at the end of the year came the establishment of the Taiwan Political Theory journal in August. Taiwan Political Theory was co-founded by Tangwai legislator Kang Ning-hsiang and legislator Huang Hsin-chieh, with Chang Chun-hung as editorin-chief, Huang Hua and Chang Ching-tse as deputy 33