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Chen calls for ceremony or procession to mark 60th anniversary of 228 Incident

Members of the Shue-tan-tan Sisters Alliance choir sing a traditional Taiwanese song at an event in Taipei yesterday to commemorate the 228 Incident. PHOTO: WANG YI-SUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) proposed yesterday that the nation mark the 60th anniversary of the 228 Incident by holding a march or a commemorative ceremony at the site where the massacre took place.

Alternatively, temples around the country could ring bells and beat drums simultaneously at 2:28pm on Feb. 28, Chen suggested in the latest issue of his online newsletter.

"We want to vow, faithfully and steadfastly, that we will not allow this historical tragedy to be repeated. And we want to pray for the early realization of justice, peace, reconciliation and forgiveness," Chen said.

While many people have in the past defined the 228 Incident as an ethnic conflict, Chen said it was really about the suppression of democracy.

Chen said that 40 percent of the victims of "white terror" during the martial law era were Mainlanders. Since this group only accounts for 15 percent of Taiwan's population, Chen said the statistic proved that anyone who challenged the rule of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government of the time was subject to relentless suppression and persecution.

In addition to learning a lesson from the incident and protecting the country's hard-fought democratic achievements, the government must address the issue of "transitional justice" as the country prepares to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the incident, he said.

According to the president, the country needs to clarify the past authoritarian rulers' responsibility for human rights violations before it can emerge from the shadow of authoritarianism.

The 228 Incident is named after a rebellion sparked on Feb. 27, 1947, against KMT rule. It has been estimated that some 20,000 people were killed by KMT troops in the months following the rebellion.

According to an investigative report released by the 228 Incident Memorial Foundation, late dictator Chiang Kai-shek (將介石), who dispatched the KMT troops to Taiwan, should bear the largest share of responsibility for the tragedy.
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