ation was completed and began operation in 1917, and still operates today.
Taichung was officially designated as a city by Japanese Imperial authorities in 1920, and Taichung City Hall was completed in 1924 after eleven years of construction.
A Taiwanese cultural association founded in 1921 in Taipei by Lin Hsien-tang was moved to Taichū in 1927. Most of the members of this association were from Taichung and the surrounding area. The city became a center of Taiwanese culture and nationalism.
The new found prosperity of Taichung was eventually squandered by the war effort. When World War II ended in 1945, Taiwan’s economy, like Japan’s, was in shambles.
Chinese Nationalist-rule era (1945-1996)
The Japanese were forced to surrender to Republic of China (ROC) forces on behalf of Allied forces on 25 October 1945, who came across the Strait on U.S. ships and accepted their surrender on behalf of the Allied Powers.
The early post-war era was one of transition and turmoil for Taiwan. Taiwanese nationalists had divided into three prominent groups, one of which was known as the Taichung Clique. These were men with relatively high social standing during the Japanese era, such as Lin Hsien-t’ang, Yang Chao-chia, Yeh Jung-chung, and others. These men attempted to take what they believed to be their rightful place as the political leaders of the island. However, the administrator of the island, Chen Yi, opposed this faction as it contained many people, especially merchants and landlords, who had opposed his policies.
Under the authorities of the Republic of China, Taichung had become the center for organized crime and associated businesses.
The Kuomintang (KMT), also known as the Chinese Nationalist Party, relocated the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan upon losing theChinese Civil War to the Communists.
Taichung was declared a special municipality in 1949 by the ROC government
