The question of the degree to which the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) should shoulder responsibility for the 228 Incident is to be ruled on in the Taiwan High Court on March 9.
The Taipei District Court has already rejected a case brought by the families of 108 victims, ruling that the massacre was ordered by the government of the day and was unrelated to the KMT per se.
Several academics yesterday expressed disagreement with the district court’s decision, saying that the 228 Incident occurred during the Period of Political Tutelage (訓政時期) in which the five branches of government all answered directly to the KMT -Central Executive Committee (CEC). According to this interpretation, the KMT is directly responsible.
Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元), a professor of history at National Chengchi University, told a seminar held by the Taiwan Association of University Professors on the KMT’s role in the 228 Incident that the government has already apologized and paid compensation, but questions remain about the KMT’s role.
Hsueh said that at the time of the 228 Incident, the Constitution had already been written but not yet implemented, as Taiwan was still in the Period of Political Tutelage.
The Organic Act of the Government of the Republic of China (國民政府組織法) states that prior to the implementation of the Constitution, the five branches of government were each the responsibility of the KMT’s CEC.
Even though the head of the nation has already offered an apology for the massacre, the KMT was in charge of the government of the day, so it should take responsibility for that government’s actions, he said.
Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), an associate researcher at the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica, questioned how the 228 Memorial Hall could say the president of the time, Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石), had shown leniency in his handling of the incident.
He cited a March 13, 1947, telegram that Chiang sent, -warning that military and government personnel should avoid taking vengeance on the people or face “severe punishment.”
However, Chen produced correspondence between Chiang and then-executive administrator of Taiwan Chen Yi (陳儀) clarifying the sequence of events.
It suggested that Huang Chao-qin (黃朝琴), head of the Taiwan Provincial Council, had asked -Chiang on March 6 to send a senior official to Taiwan to deal with the situation, but that Chiang had already made the decision on March 5 to send the army to Taiwan to quell the unrest, Chen Yi-shen said.
Chiang only sent the telegram warning of “severe punishment” after the army had already arrived in Taiwan on March 8 and begun the massacre, he added.
Chen Yi-shen said that not one single military or political leader had ever been found guilty regarding the 228 Incident. Chiang made the commander of the Kaohsiung forces, Peng Meng-chi (彭孟緝), head of the Provincial Garrison Command.
The CEC initially relieved Chen Yi of his post, but Chiang intervened and invoked his presidential right to veto.
Viewed in this light, Chiang’s role does not sit well with the picture of magnanimity painted by the National 228 Memorial Hall, he said.
Wellington Koo (顧立雄), the lawyer of the families of the 108 victims who brought the case to the Taipei District Court on the anniversary of the massacre last year, said they were asking for an apology to be printed in Chinese-language newspapers in Taiwan and overseas publications, such as the New York Times.
They also sought a donation of NT$2 billion (US$67 million) to be made to the National 228 Memorial Hall in compensation.
They were also asking for files related to the massacre to be handed over to the National Archives Administration.
The case was rejected last August on the grounds that the government of the day had been carrying out its public duties and that it could not be proven present party members were connected with the officials of the day.
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
The New Taipei Metro's Sanyin Line and the eastern extension of the Taipei Metro's Tamsui-Xinyi Line (Red Line) are scheduled to begin operations in June, the National Development Council said today. The Red Line, which terminates at Xiangshan Station, would be connected by the 1.4km extension to a new eastern terminal, Guangci/Fengtian Temple Station, while the Sanyin Line would link New Taipei City's Tucheng and Yingge stations via Sanxia District (三峽). The council gave the updates at a council meeting reviewing progress on public construction projects for this year. Taiwan's annual public infrastructure budget would remain at NT$800 billion (US$25.08 billion), with NT$97.3
TALENT SCOUTING: The university is investing substantial funds in its future to bring in the kind of researchers that would keep the college internationally competitive National Taiwan University (NTU) plans to invest NT$2 billion (US$62.6 million) to launch two programs aimed at attracting and retaining top research talent, university president Chen Wen-chang (陳文章) said yesterday. The funding would support the “Palm Grove Scholars Project,” which targets academics aged 40 to 55. Up to 20 scholars would be selected, each receiving as much as NT$10 million annually, Chen said. The initiative is designed to attract leading researchers to Taiwan and strengthen NTU’s global competitiveness by fostering a more research-friendly environment and expanding international collaboration, he said. NTU is also introducing a “Hong Hu” chair grant, which would provide Palm
RSS