Losing Watan

Losing Watan was an indigenous leader in Taiwan from 1899 to 1954. After World War 2, Taiwan was returned to the KMT government by the Japanese government. Encouraged by the KMT's Three Principles of the People (civic nationalism, governance rights, and welfare rights), Watan launched a petition urging the KMT government to return indigenous lands that were given to the Han Chinese population by the Japanese government in the hopes that the KMT government would respect the idea of equality among ethnic groups under their three principles.

After his petition was ignored by the government, Watan started to participate in politics. He was elected as a member of the parliament in 1952 and continued to advocate for indigenous rights.

However, he was soon arrested and executed in 1952 for colluding with the communist party along with five other indigenous leaders. In reality, while Watan had been approached by members of the communist party, he had reported them to authorities. During this period, indigenous youths who engaged with indigenous rights movements were also arrested, interrogated, and imprisoned. This hindered indigenous rights movements until the 1980s.