The Empire of Japan surrendered on August 15, 1945, and the Chinese Nationalist government took over Taiwan on behalf of the Allied powers. Indigenous representatives, such as Losin Watan, began to negotiate with the new regime for the future status of Indigenous Peoples, as well as their survival and development. On October 25 in the same year, as the Chief Executive's Office of Taiwan Province officially took charge of the Government-General of Taiwan, the new government decided one-sidedly that from that day on, the people of Taiwan should all "restore" the nationality of the Republic of China.

The Chinese Nationalist government claimed in the Guidelines Governing the Takeover of Taiwan that it would enable the "self-determination and autonomy" of Indigenous Peoples. Nevertheless, the reality was that the poor governance of the Chief Executive's Office, as well as the offensive attitude of military troops and officials in charge of takeover, had often provoked public rage. Furthermore, the authorities even forced the Indigenous people to "restore the Chinese names," ignoring the fact that many Japanese names of the Indigenous people actually correspond with the pronunciation of their original names. Before the outbreak of the February 28 Incident, the new regime and Indigenous Peoples kept watching each other closely while groping for ways to interact.

The Indigenous people had mixed feelings toward the "retrocession" of Taiwan, as their past enemy became the “motherland”, and what once was honour had been turned into shame. However, after the Japanese colonizers left and before the new regime arrived, the Indigenous communities, especially those in mountain areas, kept functioning autonomously as usual and were not influenced seriously by the shift of regimes.

Although the Chinese Nationalist government had its own policies toward ethnic minorities based on the Three Principles of the People, it lacked experience of actual governance as a consequence of the year-long turmoil in China. This resulted in, at the beginning, its limited understanding of the Indigenous Peoples in Taiwan, who had encountered and been influenced by modern states.

The Guidelines Governing the Takeover of Taiwan

The Chinese Nationalist government promulgated the Guidelines Governing the Takeover of Taiwan on March 14, 1945, in which Article 4 states that "The national consciousness shall be strengthened and the mentality of enslavement be eradicated," and Article 18 states that "The aboriginals shall be supported according to Article 4 of the Fundamentals of National Reconstruction to enable their self-determination and autonomy." These two articles were regarded as the major principles of the Chinese Nationalist government's Indigenous policies.

In addition, Article 82 states that "The state-owned land, public land, and those lands which shall be returned to the public during the Japanese occupation period, shall all be nationalized and handled respectively in accordance with the land policies and regulations of the Republic of China." It implies that the Chinese Nationalist government still dealt with the issues of Indigenous traditional territories according to the nationalization policies of the Japanese colonial period.

On October 5, 1945, the Advance Command Post of the Chief Executive's Office was established in Taipei. Then the 70th Field Army of the Republic of China Armed Forces arrived in Taipei on October 17. Two days later, on October 19, Losin Watan and other Indigenous representatives visited Ke Ching-en, Secretary-General of the Chief Executive's Office and director of the Advance Command Post, in order to send their regards to the Chinese Nationalist government.

The report on the newspaper was written from Ke Ching-en's point of view, as it was given the title "You are Chinese, as well as Freemen." However, it also reflected the Indigenous Peoples' expectations for interacting with the new regime, in order to discuss their future status, economy and culture, as well as issues on the homecoming of their folks in exile overseas because of war.