[2] The period of White Terror is generally considered to have begun when martial law was declared in Taiwan on 19 May 1949, which was enabled by the 1948 Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion, and ended on 21 September 1992 with the repeal of Article 100 of the Criminal Code, allowing for the prosecution of "anti-state" activities.

[3][4] The period of White Terror generally does not include the February 28 incident of 1947, in which the KMT killed at least 18,000 Taiwanese civilians in response to a popular uprising, and also summarily executed many local political and intellectual elites.

[7] Others targeted included Taiwanese locals and indigenous peoples who participated in the 28 February incident, such as Uyongʉ Yata'uyungana, and those accused of dissidence for criticizing the government.

[8] The KMT carried out persecutions against those who criticized or opposed the government, accusing them of attempting to subvert the regime, while dramatically expanding the scope of punishment throughout this period.

[9] It made use of the Taiwan Garrison Command (TGC), a secret police, as well as other intelligence units by enacting special criminal laws as tools for the government to purge dissidents.

The New Life Movement has been described by some academics and scholars as "Confucian fascism", which imitates certain fascist regimes to increase Chiang's control of the everyday lives of the citizens.

The legacy of authoritarianism during the White Terror in Taiwan has persisted until today, and political discussions about this topic continue to be highly controversial on the island.[19][relevant?]

[23] Many mainlander victims of White Terror, such as Bo Yang, Lei Chen, and Li Ao, moved on to promote Taiwan's democratization and the reform of the Kuomintang.

In 1969, future president Lee Teng-hui was detained and interrogated for more than a week by the Taiwan Garrison Command, which demanded to know about his "communist activities" and told him "killing you at this moment is as easy as crushing an ant to death."

[24] Fear of discussing the White Terror and the 28 February Incident gradually decreased with the lifting of martial law after the 1987 Lieyu massacre,[25] culminating in the establishment of an official public memorial and an apology by President Lee Teng-hui in 1995.