Following the recent publication of a New Zealander's account of the 228 Incident and the donation of the original manuscript to the 228 Memorial Museum, critics say the third-party account of the atrocities serves as a unique opportunity for the general public to reflect on the horrors of the past.
Colin Shackleton donated his father's manuscript of his book Formosa Calling to the 228 Memorial Museum on Saturday -- more than five decades after his father Allan James Shackleton wrote about his post-war experiences in Taiwan as a UN rehabilitation officer.
The manuscript describes how the Chinese moved to Taiwan after the KMT's defeat in the Chinese Civil War, how they pillaged the industrial society created by the Japanese on Taiwan and the corruption he witnessed among KMT troops.
After the KMT's arrival in Taiwan (usually, at the time, referred to as the Nationalists), "the Formosans soon found that property was not safe when soldiers were about and that they had no redress at law for any robbery committed by the military," Shackleton wrote in the manuscript.
Lap Phok-bun (
"This is the kind of book that was banned from publication for more than 50 years. More than 50 years later, it has come to light," he added, displaying the Mandarin version of the account, which was published in Taiwan last June.
The English version was only published in 1998.
Unexpected discovery
Before 1997, nobody except Shackleton's family members knew of the existence of the unpublished manuscript, which had been kept in a metal cabin trunk mixed with other documents relating to his experience during WWI.
"After he died, we went through the trunk, and threw out just about everything. But we kept Formosa Calling, and got it moved up into the study into a filing cabinet. It got `promoted,'" said Jenny, Colin Shackleton's wife.
"It's an important part of father's life, so I couldn't have possibly destroyed it," said Colin. Even so, Allan Shackleton's descendents considered the manuscript merely as a family keepsake.
"We didn't consider it important. We thought it's just our family history and that nobody else would be interested," said Jenny.
It was an unexpected telephone call from a stranger in 1997 that changed the fate of the manu-script.
"When I called Colin the first time, he sounded shocked," said Stanley Liao (
Liao said that when preparing an event in New Zealand to mark the 50th anniversary of the 228 Incident in 1997, a friend told him of two New Zealanders he could contact for related materials.
Liao's friend said that George Kerr had mentioned two New Zealanders, Allan James Shackleton and Louise Tomsett, in his 1965 book Formosa Betrayed as sources he consulted about the events of 1947.
Making numerous phone calls, Liao found out that Tomsett, though still alive in Sydney, had suffered a stroke and was unable to speak. Tomsett communicated with Liao via fax to say that all her related files had been lost.
Liao's search for the Shackleton family yielded mixed results. The bad news was that Allan had died in 1984. The good news was that he had left behind him an unpublished manuscript.
"I had absolutely no idea about the manuscript whatsoever before I made the phone call," Liao said.
Liao said it took him sometime to shake off Colin's suspicion about his proposal that the manuscript should be published.
Colin admitted that he was very "careful" when talking to Liao the first few times.
Colin recalled his father's warning given to him in the mid-1980s before the old man passed away.
"Father had once told me, `be very careful, Colin, if you ever go to Taiwan. You may be put in jail on account of the manuscript.' The name Shackleton would be persona non grata in Taiwan because father was known to be against the [KMT] regime," he said.
"So I thought if somebody wanted the manuscript, it could be dangerous," he added, laughing, sitting in his hotel room in downtown Taipei on Thursday evening during his first visit to Taiwan.
Colin said it was Liao's explanation about how limited the related information was that made him change his mind.
"We didn't realize that history was being lost and the document was valuable as a result ... So when [Liao] wanted to have it published, we agreed," he said.
In fact, back at the time when Allan Shackleton endeavored to write about what he witnessed and attempted to have the manuscript published, neither his wife Mildred nor publishers appreciated his effort.
Third party account
But more than a decade after Allan passed away, his battle to publish his account of the bloody uprising in Taiwan was finally won, although it is a delayed victory. When the Mandarin version of the book was published in Taiwan last June, historians like Wu Mi-cha (
Wu, a specialist in Taiwan history at National Taiwan University, said Shackleton's book offered locals a fresh angle on the 1947 tragedy.
"But for these accounts made by foreigners as third parties to the incident, all one can only hear in Taiwan are arguments between victims and persecutors," Wu said.
"Relatives of the victims of the incident will accuse the KMT of atrocities, while the KMT nowadays would say it's a tragedy that happened in the past and they had no part in any misdeeds. A third-party account such as this could enable us to shake off that constraint in looking at history," he said.
He also said third-party accounts would counter government attempts to erase the past.
"These accounts of the events surrounding the incident were valuable because they helped prevent the KMT's attempts to cover up the atrocities. And more than 50 years later, the publication of Shackleton's book can also prevent the KMT from trying to erase memories of past horrors," he added.
As Colin said, "if [the book] helps with the reconciliation process, then it would be of great benefit to the people of Taiwan."
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source