In late 1989, popular pressure for the fall of the Berlin Wall grew louder across East Germany. In November, over one million East Germans — approximately 10% of the German population — demonstrated to demand the end of the East German regime. On November 9, the East German government announced it was opening its borders.
Songs of Madness was the debut album by Taiwan’s Blacklist Studio, released in 1989. Its cover boldly declared: ‘This is not empty talk — these are our sweet potato songs.’ Most critics regard it as the opening salvo of the New Taiwanese Song Movement of the 1990s.
In early May 1989, Banqiao elementary school teacher Li Hsing-chang and others organized the ‘Houseless Persons Relief Association,’ drawing enormous public response. It became Taiwan’s first collective action organization oriented toward urban reform.
The June Fourth Incident began with student demands — made at a memorial for Hu Yaobang — for action on inflation, unemployment, official corruption, government accountability, and freedom of the press and assembly. The government responded with military force, resulting in mass bloodshed. Premier Li Peng subsequently signed a declaration of martial law.
The Max/MSP system, developed by Miller Puckette and others beginning in 1988, advanced from MIDI control toward real-time audio processing, allowing the computer to function as an improvising performer within musical compositions.
Section 301 is a provision of the revised 1974 Trade Act that authorizes the U.S. Trade Representative to negotiate the elimination of unfair foreign trade practices. Taiwan was placed on the Special 301 Priority Watch List in 1989.
In 1988, Shin Kong Textile — a core company in the Shin Kong Group — announced it would close its Shihlin plant in Taipei on October 30, citing ‘aging machinery’ and ‘operating losses.’ The announcement ignited Taiwan’s first wave of labor activism.
PolyGram was once the world’s largest record company. In 1977, it began collaborating with Taiwan’s Kolin Records and introduced Hong Kong artists to the Taiwanese market.
During his rule in Taiwan, Chiang Ching-kuo oversaw the Ten Major Construction Projects and lifted martial law. He died at age 78; four hours after the announcement of his death, Lee Teng-hui declared himself successor, ending the era of the Chiang family’s rule in Taiwan.
During the February 20 anti-nuclear-waste movement launched by the people of Orchid Island, Taiwan’s first political report theatre piece — the ‘Orchid Island Anti-Nuclear Report Play’ — was performed in front of nuclear waste storage facility No. 26 on the island.