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Ma accused of `twisting' facts on 228

"If Ma sincerely wants to look at the incident from the victims' perspective, he should not try to cover the past sins of the KMT by tampering with historical facts."

Tien Chiu-chin, DPP legislator

Family members of the victims of the 228 Incident yesterday charged Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) of "twisting [the incident's] truth" with a newly released documentary.

At a news conference hosted by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇), Tien said that the documentary -- sponsored by the Taipei City Government's Department of Cultural Affairs during Ma's mayoral term -- did not reflect the truth.

Titled Searching for the Silent Mother of the 228 Incident -- Lin Chiang-mai (林江邁) the documentary instead tried to interpret the incident as "a pure misunderstanding resulting from language barriers," Tien claimed.

Lin has often been featured by history textbooks as the starting point of the incident, which took place on the night of Feb. 27, 1947.

Textbooks usually portrayed the incident as resulting from a conflict between anti-contraband officers and local people after officials attempted to confiscate Lin's cigarette products, as she did not have a sales permit from the government.

The conflict led to clashes and soon thereafter police and military forces were called in -- escalating into the White Terror era, during which numerous people were arrested and killed.

In articles written on the subject, Yang Tu (楊渡), the producer of the documentary, claims that Lin's daughter, Lin Ming-chu (林明珠), said that conflict between soldiers and the local population erupted because the locals, most of whom spoke Hoklo (also known as Taiwanese), thought that the Mandarin-speaking soldier was refusing to pay for his cigarettes.

While attempting to push back the locals, the soldier raised his gun and accidentally hit the mother on the head, she said, adding that she had witnessed the scene first-hand.

The daughter's story, however, was dismissed by Juan Mei-shu (阮美姝), whose father was also a victim of the incident.

Juan, who has published many books based on her research into the incident, said Lin Ming-chu's story contradicted what she had said in prior taped interviews.

The daughter previously said she was home when the whole thing happened, Jung said.

In a video clip Juan showed during the press conference, Lin Chiang-mai's older son, Lin Pao-lo (林匏螺), said that it was his younger brother who had been with his mother on the night of the incident, not his sister.

The brother added that his mother was hit with the butt of a rifle by a police officer from Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Co after he snatched the cigarettes -- not a soldier.

"I didn't see a nine or 10-year-old girl nearby. Lin Ming-chu is lying. I can prove that by confronting her," said Huang Shou-li (黃守禮), a former professor at Chung Yuan Christian University who was also present at the scene.

Juan urged the daughter to avoid falsifying history for financial gain lest she become the "sinner of Taiwan."

"If Ma sincerely wants to look at the incident from the victims' perspective, he should not try to cover the past sins of the KMT by tampering with historical facts," Tien said, urging that the documentary be pulled from the market immediately.

The Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs yesterday said the documentary was made based on the interviews with Lin's daughter and was not fabrication.

"People have different interpretations of history. Our documentary chronicles Lin and her daughters' involvement in the 228 Incident and how it affected their lives," said Wang Yi-chun (王逸群), a division chief at the department.

Wang added that the department had seen news coverage on Lin and subsequently decided to sponsor the making of a documentary about her to help the public better understand the impact of the 228 Incident on one of its victims.

"We made the documentary in an attempt to record a piece of the history, but we will leave it to academics to examine whether the content is consistent with history," he added.

Additional reporting by Mo Yan-chih
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