As part of events to commemorate the 71st anniversary of the 228 Massacre, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) is to attend a government-sponsored memorial ceremony and issue honorary certificates to victims and their families, sources said.
Former Keelung City Council deputy speaker Yang A-shou (楊阿壽) is among six victims recognized by the certificates intended to restore their family names, which were tarnished during the massacre and the subsequent White Terror era.
The certificates are to be presented at a main memorial event in Taipei on Wednesday next week, one of about 50 planned memorial events nationwide.
Photo: Yu Chao-fu, Taipei Times
The Taiwan Association for Human Rights, the Tsai Jui-yueh Culture Foundation and the Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation and Memorial Museum are to hold events early on Saturday at locations around Taipei, including Rixin Elementary School and the restored Tianma Tea House (天馬茶房), which is near the location of the event that triggered the massacre.
On Feb. 27, 1947, agents from the Taiwan Provincial Government’s Taiwan Tobacco and Wine Monopoly Bureau questioned a woman who was selling contraband cigarettes from a cart near the tea house. When one of the agents hit the woman on the head with his gun after she protested their effort to confiscate her cigarettes, a crowd of people surrounded him and the other agents. As they fled, the agent fired his gun into the crowd, killing a bystander.
That incident led to nationwide anti-government protests and as many as 30,000 people are estimated to have been killed in the subsequent government crackdown.
Not all of the documents regarding victims of the massacre have been recovered, but 2,200 victims have so far been officially recognized by the government-funded 228 Memorial Foundation.
The main ceremony, to be held in Taipei’s 228 Peace Memorial Park at 2pm on Wednesday next week, is to promote fearlessness in the pursuit of transitional justice, said the foundation, which is organizing the event.
Pro-localization group Taiwan Nation Alliance is to then hold a memorial event at the site following the main ceremony.
The certificate for Yang, who was forced into exile for more than a year following the massacre, is to be accepted by family member Chou Chen-tsai (周振才), who had applied for it on his behalf.
The certificate for victim Liu Wu-cheng (劉戊成) is to be received by family members Liu Chung-hsin (劉仲信), Liu Chia-yuan (劉家源) and Liu Hui-chuan (劉惠娟), who applied on his behalf, while the certificate for Liang A-piao (梁阿標) is to be received by family member Liang Jung-tzu (梁榮子), who applied on his behalf.
Hsieh I-cheng (謝一誠), one of the surviving victims, is to be present at the ceremony to receive his certificate.
Various local governments are holding their own memorial events, including Chiayi, which is to hold its event in front of the city’s 228 memorial monument on Saturday, and Yilan, Changhua, Yunlin and Nantou counties, as well as Taoyuan, Tainan and Kaohsiung, which are holding events on Wednesday next week.
These events are to consist of speeches, musical performances and other activities.
The Keelung City Government has a memorial event planned for March 8.
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