Families of 228 Massacre victims may follow the example of Iraqi journalist Muntader al-Zaidi, who famously threw a shoe at former US president George W. Bush last December, by throwing shoes at President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) at this year’s 228 Day Memorial Service, Chinese-language media reported yesterday.
The memorial service, which will be hosted by the 228 Memorial Foundation, will take place this month in Kaohsiung. The Taipei City Government will also host a service the same day in the capital.
Feb. 28, or 228, is a holiday that commemorates the 228 Incident, a massacre that took place in 1947 when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops suppressed a Taiwanese uprising, leaving tens of thousands dead, missing or imprisoned.
Newspapers yesterday reported that families of the incident’s victims would stage a protest against Ma during the memorial service to express their dissatisfaction with the government and a suggestion by a KMT legislator on Sunday that the holiday be scrapped.
“We have not heard of such plans,” representatives of the 228 Memorial Foundation said. “It is unlikely to happen, as we will have security guards at the event.”
The Presidential Office said yesterday that Ma was willing to face protesters no matter what action they take, as Taiwan needs reconciliation.
Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said Ma viewed 228 as an important day and that he would do his best to attend both memorial services in Taipei and Kaohsiung despite his busy schedule.
“The president knows some protesters plan to throw shoes at him. This is not the first 228-related activity that he will be attending. During his time as Taipei mayor and KMT chairman, he also participated in several 228 memorial services where protests occurred,” Wang said.
The president, Wang said, would be willing to deal with any impoliteness because “he believes history must be dealt with honestly and that there must be reconciliation among people.”
“The president will do everything in his power to attend the services and we hope the protesters will express their opinions in an appropriate manner,” he said.
KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Lo Shu-lei (羅淑蕾) said the president should endure any planned protests by family members of victims of the incident.
“[He] still has to endure [the protests] even if people are going to throw shoes, stones or eggs at him, because the incident is a scar in Taiwan’s history and the president has the obligation to heal the sorrow,” she said.
However, KMT caucus deputy secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) urged protesters not to throw shoes.
Following the shoe attack on Bush last year, a German student threw a shoe at Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) this month during his visit to Britain’s Cambridge University.
ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY JENNY W. HSU AND FLORA WANG
TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT: A US Air Force KC-135 tanker came less than 1,000 feet of an EVA plane and was warned off by a Taipei air traffic controller, a report said A US aerial refueling aircraft came very close to an EVA Airways jet in the airspace over southern Taiwan, a military aviation news Web site said. A report published by Alert 5 on Tuesday said that automatic dependent surveillance–broadcast (ADS-B) data captured by planfinder.net on Wednesday last week showed a US Air Force KC-135 tanker “coming less than 1,000 feet [305m] vertically with EVA Air flight BR225 as both aircraft crossed path south of Taiwan” that morning. The report included an audio recording of a female controller from the Taipei air traffic control center telling the unidentified aircraft that it was
A series of discussions on the legacy of martial law and authoritarianism are to be held at the Taipei International Book Exhibition this month, featuring findings and analysis by the Transitional Justice Commission. The commission and publisher Book Republic organized the series, entitled “Escaping the Nation’s Labyrinth of Memory: What Authoritarian Symbols and Records Can Tell Us,” to help people navigate narratives through textual analysis and comparisons with other nations. The four-day series is to begin on Thursday next week with a discussion between commission Chairwoman Yang Tsui (楊翠), Polish-language translator Lin Wei-yun (林蔚昀), and Polish author and artist Pawel Gorecki comparing
MOVING OUT: A former professor said that rent and early education costs in Taipei are the nation’s highest, which makes it difficult for young people to start families The population of Taipei last year fell to the lowest in 23 years due to high rent, more transportation options and the expansion of northern cities into a single metropolis, academics and city officials said on Monday. Data released this month by the Ministry of the Interior showed that the capital was home to 2,602,418 people last year, down 42,623 from 2019. The decline is second only to 1993, when the population fell by 42,828 people, while Taipei’s population was the lowest it has been since 1997. Taipei saw the biggest drop among the six special municipalities, while Taoyuan led the group in
A legislator yesterday called for authorities to investigate the sale of Chinese-made, Internet-connected karaoke machines containing “propaganda songs.” Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Chen Ting-fei (陳亭妃) said she was approached by a person who had discovered Chinese patriotic songs such as My Motherland (我的祖國) — which is commonly referred to as China’s “second national anthem” — in Chinese-made karaoke devices sold in Taiwan. The machines are popular, as they can connect to the Internet, providing access to thousands of songs, she said. One retailer, who asked to remain anonymous, said that the machines first entered the local market about three years ago, starting with
RSS