The Taiwan Garrison Command and the Taiwan Military Command were both post-war Taiwan military agencies. When the former was established in 1958, it was based on the Taiwan Provincial Security Command and merged with the Taiwan Civil Defense Command and the Taipei Garrison Command. Taiwan Garrison Command assumed missions of the Martial Law of the Taiwan Defense Command to assure the stableness of the rear and supporting the front line with the responsibilities for public and national security.
The duties of the Taiwan Garrison Command were diverse. Taiwan Garrison Command was mainly in charge of Taiwan's security operations, implementation of martial law, maintenance of public security, prevention of hazards, security control of the coasts and mountains, organizing and training for civil defense, inspection of ports, airports and customs, vagrant controls, special intelligence jobs including telecommunication investigation, mail inspection, cultural inspection, suppressing dissidents, providing military court trials and convicting political prisoners sentences and probations, etc. Although there were severe criticisms of injustices that violated human rights, from the KMT's perspective, especially after the devastating failure in China in 1949, these were the state machinery's necessary and fundamental measures to take preventive action to eliminate riots, to maintain political, economic and social stability, and to keep the regime in power and sustainable.
In the entire national governance mechanism, the Taiwan Garrison Command had multiple roles. It acted as a central and coordinating role: received the orders from the National Security Bureau and prepared overall plans, reported to the Ministry of National Defense for (sometimes ostensible) approval, handing over executions to the police, the gendarmerie, the Investigation Bureau, and even the Army. Thus it was a coordinator as well as an agency commanding and supervising the overall security operations.
The Taiwan Military Command was established in 1964 and became a "two-in-one" organization of the Taiwan Garrison Command. Originally, Taiwan Garrison Command used military division areas and regiment areas to conduct local security and reinforce martial law, then created military areas for more efficient integration and maneuverability. The military areas were mainly responsible for the management of mobilization, and education and training for reservists.
This dissertation discusses the history and development of Taiwan Garrison Command and analyzes the whole process from the KMT’s perspective, rather than a critical discourse of transitional justice. Thus it does not involve individual "white terror" political case discussion.
According to the main theme of this dissertation, it depicts the Taiwan Garrison Command into three parts. The first part is the planning process, the second part the discussion of the various sub-organizations and functions, and the third part the analysis of its operations in its 34-year history. As to the contents, there are seven chapters. In addition to the first chapter "Introduction" and the last chapter "Conclusion", the main body can be divided into two parts: the first part discusses what the Taiwan Garrison Command is, and explicates the reasons, process, and confidentiality of the establishment, which are the second and third chapters.
The second part discusses the organization, businesses, and functions of the Taiwan Garrison Command, and explores the reasons and ways of changing and adaptation in different periods in the 34-year history, which are the fourth and fifth chapter.
The third part is a further discussion for certain topics in depth. It tries to reflect that the source of law, nature, military law, and the role of Taiwan Garrison Command in the government. It may not be the anecdotes as expected; however, there is a room to deliberate: the personnel issues, the using of the reservist organization to aid to maintain order, and the intervening in local factional elections.
Generally speaking, this dissertation is one of a few academic papers written for Taiwan Garrison Command system. It would be useful to understand its history, evolution, functions, organization and problems. It would also be helpful to clarify the outstanding issues of transitional justice from a different angle of view.