The 228 Memorial Foundation plans to open its national 228 memorial museum in 2011 with the goal of presenting the “honest” truth behind the 228 Incident free from political bias, foundation chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said yesterday.
The museum, located on Nanhai Road (南海路) where the American Institute in Taiwan’s culture and information section used to stand, will be a place for the victims of the 228 Incident and their families, Chan said.
The venue will also be used to hold memorial services or concerts, he said, adding that the foundation would work on projects with Taipei City’s 228 Memorial Museum.
The 228 Incident was sparked by civilian resistance to Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) rule. The 1947 massacre remained a forbidden subject for decades under the rule of dictator Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son, late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
Efforts to study the 228 Incident did not begin until 1987, when martial law was lifted.
It was not until 1995 that then-president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) made the first official apology for the incident.
Lee also ordered the Cabinet to form an ad hoc foundation, which has since become the 228 Memorial Foundation, to offer subsidies to victims and their families.
The legislature later agreed on compensation and made Feb. 28 a national holiday during Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) presidency.
Chen also erected a national 228 monument, declassified documents related to the massacre and presented government certification to victims and their families to formally restore the reputations of people who were dubbed “hooligans” by the KMT regime.
During Chen’s term as Taipei mayor, he established a municipal 228 museum and turned Taipei New Park into the 228 Peace Park.
Saying the “228 Incident” remained an emotional topic for Taiwanese, Chan said the foundation had just reshuffled its board, and one-third of the members are victims, relatives of victims, academics or other experts.
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) did not interfere in the selections of board members, Chan said.
The newly structured foundation will make an effort to remain objective, rational and moderate and steer clear from politics, he said.
It will also continue research into the incident.
Chan said three of the board members were historians or history professors.
“We hope they can represent mainstream public opinion because they are objective and rational,” he said.
“We hope we can return to the way that mainstream society wants to see us operate — namely, by advancing ethnic harmony and social unity.”
The foundation received much praise as well as criticism when it published a book, The 228 Incident: A Report on Responsibility, in February 2006.
The book argued that the KMT should be held responsible for the 1947 massacre because its leader at the time — Chiang Kai-shek — along with Chen Yi (陳儀), whom Chiang selected to be the executive administrator of Taiwan, was the mastermind behind the incident.
Chan said he would leave determining the truth to historians and experts because he did not have any personal experience with the “228 Incident.”
He said he realized, however, that the topic is sensitive and many families of victims have not come to terms with what happened to their loved ones.
“That’s why we will continue to exist,” he said. “President Ma also agrees with me that we must honestly tell the truth of what happened because history is after all history.”
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