Fifty-nine years have passed since the 228 Incident took the lives of tens of thousands of people in 1947.
The grief and anger the tragedy caused the victims and their families has yet to be appeased despite the efforts of the government and civil groups to heal the wounds with the formation of a memorial museum, researching of historical documents and annual memorial ceremonies.
The 228 Incident refers to the brutal military crackdown on civilians who rose up against the corrupt administration of Chen Yi (
Local frustration with the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration reached boiling point on Feb. 27, 1947, after Monopoly Bureau officials' attempts to confiscate untaxed cigarettes led to the beating of an elderly woman vendor and a bystander being shot dead.
The incident sparked islandwide rioting and anti-KMT protests. More than 30,000 people were killed by Nationalist troops sent over from China.
BIG TABOO
Until the 1980s mention of the incident was still taboo, with the KMT government long painting the incident as a communist rebellion or a conflict spurred by ethnic extremists.
Not until the 1990s was there formal recognition of the misery caused by the crackdown. Following the publication of an investigation into the 228 Incident by the Executive Yuan, the breakthrough arrived when former president Lee Teng-hui (
Since then there have been many more official and private efforts to publicize the truth and honor the victims, efforts that have helped many victims or their survivors to transcend their animosity to Mainlanders.
"The 228 Incident was not a consequence of the resistance of the Taiwanese against the Mainlanders, and it was more than an issue of ethnic conflict. It's important for all ethnic groups to live peacefully together and to love Taiwan," said Huang Chin-dao (
Taipei 228 Incident Association director Liao Chi-pin (
"Many documents have shown that there are many touching stories, such as Mainlanders saving Taiwanese and vice versa," Liao said.
But the quest for truth and justice continues, just as the tragedy still haunts the victims and their families.
After a recent report said Chiang Kai-shek was the mastermind of the 228 Incident, demands for the KMT to apologize increased.
"As the then-ruling party, the KMT should offer a formal apology and compensate the families of the victims," Lee Chian-rong (
Lee sounded angry and was agitated while discussing how his father was killed by Nationalist troops and the family's assets confiscated.
While an open apology was necessary to ease the families' anger, Lee said, the KMT had to provide compensation.
In 1995, the Ministry of National Defense established the Foundation for Compensation of Improper Trials During the Martial Law Era, which included compensation regulations for 228 victims.
But the families argued that the regulations are unclear.
Although Lee Teng-hui and former KMT chairman Lien Chan (
APOLOGIES WANTED
To work toward reconciliation with 228 victims and their family members, KMT Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (
But his failure to offer a formal apology during the ceremony upset many families.
Ma said that he apologized many times in the past -- but those apologies were made in his capacity as Taipei mayor.
An open apology from Ma as the KMT's leader would go a long way in demonstrating the party's sincerity.
"As much as I want an apology from Chairman Ma, it's more important that Ma listen to our voices and lead the KMT to become a real Taiwanese party that loves the country," said Chang An-man (
Families said the government, as well as political parties, must work to restore the truth while avoiding the creation of ethnic conflict.
Only by identifying the persecutors and receiving apologies and compensation from them, it seems, will the victims and their families be able to seal the wounds of history.
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