Presbyterian Church for hiding Shih Ming-teh, who feared torture and immediate execution. Most prominent among this group was Kao Chun-ming, the general-secretary of the Presbyterian Church. Kao was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. The others received lesser sentences. Shih was given a life sentence, and his wife, Linda Gail Arrigo, a United States citizen, was deported. Fifteen of Taiwan's most important political leaders, writers and intellectuals, all associated with the Formosa Magazine, were arrested. Fifteen publications were closed down, including Meilidao (Formosa Magazine). After the event, newspapers reported that the ensuing confrontations led to civilian and police injuries. After the incident, four Tangwai participants were arrested and imprisoned on trumped-up charges of sedition, including Huang Hsin-chieh, Yao Chia-wen, Chang Chun-hung and Lin Hung-hsuan. News reports Mainstream media had long been controlled by the authoritarian KMT government. The contemporary domestic newspapers were biased about the Kaohsiung Incident and framed it as a violent mass event. China Times, United Daily News, and KMT-owned Central District News also incorrectly stated that the Tangwai protesters were motivated by a pro-independence mindset. It also stated that they were working to subvert the Republic of China in cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party. Such news reports caused negative public opinion. This negative public opinion was used by the media as further proof to attack and condemn the Tangwai. The incident caused international attention around the world, which pressed the KMT government to hold an open trial on the accused. Even though there were pressures from the U.S. and reports from the international media such as New York Times, the mainstream Taiwanese media refuted what the larger international media reported as biased rumors regarding the incident. Legacy The time period experienced a rising middle class, and a more open-minded Kuomintang (KMT) ruling regime that allowed some fostering of political opposition. Taiwanese citizens were becoming weary of mainlander authority, and were eager for a more democratic society. The event turned into a series of political protests that led to public trials and arrests. It is considered a turning point for pro-democracy groups/anti-KMT political opposition. After the Kaohsiung incident, a decade of political struggle continued between the mainlander-controlled KMT and the other political parties. The importance of the incident is that both Taiwanese people in Taiwan as well as the overseas Taiwanese community were galvanized into political actions. The movement which grew out of the incident formed the basis