｜ August 1975: Cover of the first issue of Taiwan Political Theory. The microphone would go on to feature on the cover of every ensuing edition, representing outdoor speeches and the expression of ideas. Courtesy of: Liao Wei-min editors-in-chief, and Yao Chia-wen as legal advisor. Tangwai representatives like Kuo Yu-hsin and Huang Shun-hsing served in the standing committee. Those who contributed to the journal included university professors like Lin Chung-hsiung, Tsai Cheng-wen, and Chen Ku-ying, as well as authors like Wang Tuo, Wang Hsing-ching (Nanfang Shuo), Su Ching-li, Yeh Jung-chong, Wang Shih-lang, Li Ching-jung, and Chang Hua-min. This was the first Tangwai magazine founded by local Taiwanese elites. Before this, the government prohibited all Japanese newspapers and magazines, robbing Taiwanese elites (the generation educated in Japanese) of their ability to write and participate in discourses. The only brief “speech reprieve” they had were the speeches they were allowed to give during election campaigns. 34 December 1975: "Infallible Tiger"—poster of Kuo Yu-hsin's election campaign for a supplementary seat in the Legislative Yuan. Courtesy of: Chiu Wan-hsing Taiwan Political Theory was the first Tangwai magazine to push for democratic elections. Huang Hsin-chieh and other excellent speakers gave speeches at campaign rallies throughout Taiwan. Since Free China was shut down in 1960, the sales of other Tangwai magazines suffered miserably. But after free speech in Taiwan had basically been suffocated for over 15 years, Taiwan Political Theory achieved the same bestseller status Free China had had after just 5 issues. The 5th issue, the high-profile “election special issue”, was condemned for “severe incitement of civil unrest” and the magazine was forced to shut down, generating a terrifying atmosphere of political purge. In this election, Tangwai individuals like Kang Ninghsiang, Huang Shun-hsing, and Hsu Shih-hsien were elected. However, Kuo Yu-hsin, who had served Chapter 1 in the provincial council for 22 years, lost due to a “massive number of invalid votes”. It is generally accepted that, out of all of Kuo Yu-hsin’s provocative campaign goals, such as the complete re-election of the National Assembly, the lifting of martial law, the lifting of the press ban, the release of political prisoners, and direct presidential and Taipei mayoral elections, it is “direct presidential elections” that seriously offended Chiang Ching-kuo, who was waiting to become president after the end of acting president Yan Chia-kan’s term. After Taiwan Political Theory was forcibly suspended, Robert Y. Lai (PhD in the US) and 14 others who helped issue the magazine from overseas began a petition campaign and organized protests in five US cities. They surrounded the ROC embassy and consulate in the US demanding the protection of free speech, and published an open letter to Chiang Ching-kuo demanding he reverse the suspension of ｜ Martial Law: Derailing From International Human Rights Trends the magazine, respect human rights, and not use the incident to persecute or arrest people. The US media picked up on the protests, saving Huang Hsin-chieh and Kang Ning-hsiang from political purges, but 6 months later, in July 1976, deputy editor-in-chief Huang Hua was still arrested and prosecuted for “severe incitement of civil unrest”, and sentenced to 10 years. The “forced loss” of Kuo Yu-hsin, who was wellrespected by those in the Tangwai movement, pushed Tangwai supporters’ long-time anger about election rigging to a boiling point. As a result, they took a very high-profile stance of “zero tolerance for election rigging” during the “five in one” local elections in 1977, which triggered the Zhongli incident, in which crowds took to the street in Taoyuan County to protest against election rigging. The Zhongli incident was the first political protest on the streets since the February 28 incident. A police November 19, 1977: Taiwan's "five in one" local elections triggered the Zhongli incident, a movement against election rigging. Courtesy of: Chang Fu-chung 35