The Taipei 228 Memorial Museum on Friday launched the “228 International Human Rights Exhibition: Jeju 4.3,” hoping that it will help Taiwanese to better understand the Jeju Uprising, which in South Korea carries the same weight as the 228 Massacre.
The Jeju Uprising began when the South Korean Labor Party planned gatherings to protest elections scheduled by the UN Temporary Commission on Korea and to commemorate the Samil Movement, or March First Movement, of 1919.
In an attempt to disperse the crowds, police fired warning shots, which killed six people, including a six-year-old child. The subsequent handling of the issue led to the uprising on Jeju Island, which began on April 3, 1948, and resulted in 14,373 civilian deaths.
Photo: Yang Hsin-hui, Taipei Times
The 228 Massacre began a year earlier in Taiwan when protesters were machine-gunned by security personnel on Feb. 28, 1947, at the Governor-General’s Office in Taipei. They were demanding the arrest of those responsible for the indiscriminate killing of a bystander in an angry crowd on Feb. 27 outside the Tianma Tea House (天馬茶房) on Nanjing W Road in Taipei.
The resulting crackdown by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime left tens of thousands dead and resulted in nearly four decades of martial law.
Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元), president of the 228 Memorial Foundation, said he hopes everyone remembers the lessons of history and gives their support to Hong Kong, which is experiencing governmental suppression of human rights.
He hopes all countries in Asia can work together to create a future for themselves based on freedom and democracy, Hsueh said.
The exhibition would run for two years, Taipei City Department of Cultural Affairs Deputy Director Tien Wei (田瑋) said.
“By presenting information and pictures about the Jeju Uprising, we hope to prevent similar incidents and also reflect on whether the Hong Kong administration has overreacted,” Tian said.
Jeju 4.3 Peace Foundation chairman Yang Jo-hoon, whose efforts made possible the enactment of the Jeju 4.3 Special Law in 2000, said that the 228 Incident and the 4.3 Incident were similar, because many died due to state-sanctioned violence.
The truth of the 4.3 Massacre was considered taboo in South Korea, and he was motivated by how Taiwan dealt with the 228 Massacre starting in the 1980s, he said.
Yang said he hoped to organize an exhibit about the 228 Massacre in Jeju.
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
‘EFFECTIVE DETERRENCE’: If the Biden administration suspends arms sales to Taiwan, the military could still ready a nimble fighting force for defense, an analyst said The “US Strategic Framework for the Indo-Pacific” last week sparked debate among analysts after US President Donald Trump declassified the document 20 years ahead of schedule. Trump on Tuesday last week released the document that had governed US strategic action in the region since the US leader approved its use in 2018. The document, which outlines US priorities in the region, emphasizes the importance of defending Taiwan against military aggression and facilitating the country’s development of asymmetric strategies and capabilities. The overall directive of the document is for the US to prevent China from establishing sustained air and sea dominance inside the first
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