On Feb. 28, former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) went to the 228 Peace Memorial Park in Taipei to pay his respects and bowed at the memorial monument.
However, in interviews about rehabilitation efforts for victims of the Incident, Ma said: “We finished with that a long time ago.”
Transitional justice cannot be considered finished by simply handing out compensation and holding a few commemorative ceremonies. The only way to achieve transitional justice is to review what truly happened and look at the historical truth. This is also the way to pay proper respect to the people who were affected.
On the eve of Feb. 28, 2004, I was fortunate enough to be introduced to Hu Kuo-ting (胡國定), who was caught up in the aftermath of the Incident, through my late elementary-school teacher Su Chin-shun (蘇金順). It was not until then that I learned about the Battle of Huwei Airport in Yunlin County on March 2, 1947, an intense military conflict that played a crucial role in the aftermath of the 228 Incident.
The aftershock of the 228 Incident in Taipei reached what is now Yunlin County’s Huwei Township (虎尾) in the early evening of March 1 that year. The news from Taipei fomented turmoil in downtown Huwei near the old Huwei Theater, where a crowd gathered.
Hu told me that there was a difference of opinion among Huwei residents over how the town should react to the Incident.
Then-Tainan county councilor Yang Chih (楊枝), a Huwei native, proposed a settlement committee to quell the commotion.
Chen Ming-luen (陳明崙), leader of the Huwei branch of the Three Principles Youth Group, wanted to secure the safety of staff, who were from other provinces, in the public sector and at the Huwei Sugar Refinery Plant.
The crowd recommended that Wang Piao (王標) — a member of the local gentry and a physician at Huwei Tzu-chi hospital — lead them to seize guns from the Huwei government office — although it turned out that they did not have firing pins — and from the guards at the sugar factory, form a militia and organize a command post at the Huwei He Tong building.
Early on March 2, the militia launched an assault on the airport, which was being used as a Republic of China Air Force base at the time, and the Battle of Huwei Airport started.
Hsu Mao-tsang (徐茂倉), a member of the Huwei gentry, was assigned command at the front.
However, combat operations were not clearly organized, with more than 20 militias and organizations arriving from various places. They included the Douliu (斗六) militia led by Huang Ching-piao (黃清標), the Beigang (北港) militia led by Yeh Chi-cheng (葉啟城) and Yu Ping-chin (余炳金) and the Siluo (西螺) militia led by Liao Pen-jen (廖本仁), as well as groups from what is now Chiayi County’s Dalin Township (大林), Longyan (龍巖) in Yunlin County’s Baozhong Township (褒忠) and Yuanchang Township (元長) in Yunlin County.
Former Takasago Volunteers — soldiers in the Imperial Japanese Army during the Japanese colonial period recruited from among Aborigines — also joined the fight.
The total number of people engaged differs widely between accounts from several hundred to more than 1,000.
The general situation was chaotic. The Huwei militia even had another command unit led by Wu Chang-keng (吳長庚). The chaotic situation led to infighting and a lack of supplies to the frontline, which resulted in Wu being killed by his own men.
There were only 300 military personnel from the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) army defending the airport, only some of whom were soldiers. The vast majority were non-combatants. Still, the army had machine guns in turrets — thought by some to be water towers — around the airport perimeter, from which they strafed Huwei.
One resident, Lin Chin-feng (林金鳳), spoke about how in the first days of the battle, the bullets from the strafing hit the streets and homes.
She stacked tatami mats against the windows, trying to prevent stray bullets from hitting people in the house.
When the situation had calmed down, she heard that many people had been hit on the streets.
With no firing pins, most of the militia’s guns were useless, so they armed themselves with spears fashioned from knives attached to bamboo poles.
Improbably, the two sides were locked in a stalemate for almost a week.
A doctor, Tsai Chi (蔡崎), spoke about how he had treated a member of the Dalin militia who had been shot. This was the first casualty he knew of at the Battle of Huwei Airport.
On March 6, the army had run out of bullets and provisions, so abandoned the airport. The militia took the turrets, liberating the airport.
The retreating soldiers surrendered on the banks of the Jhuoshuei River (濁水溪) in what is now Linnei Township (林內), temporarily marking the end of hostilities until the government sent reinforcements, who arrived from Keelung on March 8. They quickly retook the airport, and the militia collapsed and scattered, with many arrested and executed.
However, the battle of Huwei airport was a major victory for the militia after the 228 Incident. It boosted the spirits among many who rose up throughout Taiwan, while sending shockwaves through government officials and the army.
The battle has not been highlighted in history books or teaching materials in schools, and it has largely been forgotten for more than 70 years.
If it had not been for the revelations and assistance of Huwei residents like Su, Hu, Tsai, Yang Chih and Lin, who were there at the time, the battle would have remained buried forever, and some of the history surrounding the 228 Incident would have been lost.
Fifteen years after my introduction to Hu, these events were published for 228 Peace Memorial Day last week.
Although the witnesses to the events are no longer with us, we have been lucky enough to recover something of what happened and to reconstruct the historical facts.
That we are able to do this is a matter of transitional justice. It is the only way we can give back to those who came before us and who sacrificed themselves for us.
Yang Yen-chi is a senior-high school teacher and a resident of Yunlin County.
Translated by Chang Ho-ming and Paul Cooper
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