The Zhongli Incident: The First Large-Scale Violent Riot Launched Under the Guise of "Election Fraud"

On November 19, 1977, the first major mass riot in post-war Taiwan occurred in Zhongli after Tangwai supporters alleged election fraud. The protest quickly escalated into extreme violence, with crowds overturning and burning police cars and eventually setting fire to the entire police station building. While framed as "democratic enlightenment" by activists, this event set a dangerous precedent for using mob violence to solve political disputes and heroizing criminal acts such as arson and attacks on law enforcement under the banner of "anti-authoritarianism."