Interesting that you brought it up, I actaully thought about this for quite a while before I wrote the original comment.  I agree the forms and targets of oppression between ROC then and PRC today are quite similar in urban areas.  However, the main difference being that for most of the time Chiang Kaishek ruled China under martial law, and due to the amount of opposition Chiang faced back then, and the civil wars happening in the rurals, I would say the level of violence was much more severe.<p>In the end though, China probably would have been better off if ROC stayed, but the fact of the matter is different.  Note that by China I am referring to the mainland.  Taiwan is hands down better off today.