ABSTRACT

U nder th e term s o f the Cairo Declaration, Taiw an w as due to b e re tu rn ed to Chinese control, and Chen Yi was sent by the Guomindang government-in-exile in Chongqing to take over as governor in October 1945. He took with him a sizeable number of mainlanders and established them as a new elite, largely ignoring the wishes of the native Taiwanese. Popular resentment at this mistreatment sparked off an uprising on February 28 1947, which Chen’s forces suppressed ruthlessly. (See February 28 Incident). When it became clear that the Guomindang were going to lose the Civil War against the CCP, Taiwan was chosen as the safest retreat and throughout 1948 and 1949, hundreds of thousands of mainland soldiers and civilians fled to Taiwan. On December 8 1949, the GMD formally installed its government in Taibei. It retained the Chinese seat in the United Nations until 1971, when the PRC was finally selected in its place.