President Chen Shui-bian (
Chen made the remarks at a commemorative ceremony marking the 59th anniversary of the 228 Incident. The event was held at the 228 Peace Park in Taipei yesterday afternoon.
"Over the past 20 years, some have tried to simplify, twist or even falsify the historical meaning of the incident, saying that it was a social uprising caused by government corruption," Chen said in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese). "But that is not true. It is a false history fabricated for political purposes."
PHOTO: CHANG CHUNG-YI, TAIPEI TIMES
The nature of the incident, Chen said, was "a systematic slaughter and organized suppression of Taiwanese people." It was carried out by "a foreign administration and authoritarian regime to consolidate its power."
The incident, he said, "completely violated democracy and human rights" and "suppressed and persecuted the people of Taiwan in a bid to serve the interests of one individual and one party."
"We can forgive this atrocity, but we must not forget and we must find out the truth of the matter so justice can be served and lessons can be learned," he said. "Only by knowing the tragic past can we prevent such a tragedy from happening again."
Other senior political figures including Vice President Annette Lu (
Chen's remarks were an apparent response to recent comments from Ma and his party.
Ma has said that it was the actions of local government officials who pushed the people into rebelling rather than the KMT as a whole or Chiang, then KMT chairman and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
Ma, who spoke at the event before Chen, yesterday expressed the hope to see a national memorial museum inaugurated next year.
Ma, who spoke in broken Hoklo, was heckled by the audience, with some calling him "a slave of China" and others chanting "long live the Republic of Taiwan."
Lu said that she would like to launch a campaign to promote "good hearts, good people and good Taiwan" with the goal to build a "perpetually good Taiwan."
"We want to know more about the truth, not falsify the truth. We want true feelings, not fake ones," Lu said.
In 1995, then president Lee Teng-hui (
During his stint as Taipei mayor, Chen renamed Taipei's New Park as 228 Peace Park in 1996 and helped establish the Taipei 228 Memorial Museum in 1997. The day Feb. 28 was also approved by the Cabinet that year as a national holiday.
In August 2003, Chen, in his capacity as president, presented the first batch of national certificates to families of victims to clear the names of their loved ones killed or jailed because of the incident.
Starting this year, flags will fly at half mast on Feb. 28 out of respect for the victims of the tragedy.
Taiwan yesterday denied Chinese allegations that its military was behind a cyberattack on a technology company in Guangzhou, after city authorities issued warrants for 20 suspects. The Guangzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau earlier yesterday issued warrants for 20 people it identified as members of the Information, Communications and Electronic Force Command (ICEFCOM). The bureau alleged they were behind a May 20 cyberattack targeting the backend system of a self-service facility at the company. “ICEFCOM, under Taiwan’s ruling Democratic Progressive Party, directed the illegal attack,” the warrant says. The bureau placed a bounty of 10,000 yuan (US$1,392) on each of the 20 people named in
The High Court yesterday found a New Taipei City woman guilty of charges related to helping Beijing secure surrender agreements from military service members. Lee Huei-hsin (李慧馨) was sentenced to six years and eight months in prison for breaching the National Security Act (國家安全法), making illegal compacts with government employees and bribery, the court said. The verdict is final. Lee, the manager of a temple in the city’s Lujhou District (蘆洲), was accused of arranging for eight service members to make surrender pledges to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army in exchange for money, the court said. The pledges, which required them to provide identification
Nine retired generals from Taiwan, Japan and the US have been invited to participate in a tabletop exercise hosted by the Taipei School of Economics and Political Science Foundation tomorrow and Wednesday that simulates a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2030, the foundation said yesterday. The five retired Taiwanese generals would include retired admiral Lee Hsi-min (李喜明), joined by retired US Navy admiral Michael Mullen and former chief of staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces general Shigeru Iwasaki, it said. The simulation aims to offer strategic insights into regional security and peace in the Taiwan Strait, it added. Foundation chair Huang Huang-hsiung
’DISTORTION’: Beijing’s assertion that the US agreed with its position on Taiwan is a recurring tactic it uses to falsely reinforce its sovereignty claims, MOFA said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday said Chinese state media deliberately distorted Taiwan’s sovereign status, following reports that US President Donald Trump agreed to uphold the “one China” policy in a phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). During the more than one-hour-long call, Xi urged Trump to retreat from trade measures that roiled the global economy and cautioned him against threatening steps on Taiwan, a Chinese government summary of the call said. China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Xi as saying that the US should handle the Taiwan issue cautiously and avoid the two countries being drawn into dangerous
RSS