The Memorial Foundation of 228 yesterday launched three books documenting different aspects of the 228 Incident to mark the 73rd anniversary of the massacre.
The 228 Incident refers to a crackdown launched by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime against civilian demonstrators following an incident in Taipei on Feb. 27, 1947.
About 18,000 to 28,000 people, many of them members of the intellectual elite, were killed during the subsequent government crackdown, which lasted into early May 1947.
Photo: CNA
The event also marked the beginning of the White Terror era that saw thousands of people arrested, imprisoned or executed.
The Puzzle of the 228 Incident (拼圖二 二 八), The Oral History of the Battle of Wuniulan (南投二 二 八口述歷史訪談錄) and Beyond 1947: A Non-daily Memoranda (1947之後：二 二 八 （非）日常備忘錄) were launched to cast light on the massacre from different perspectives.
The Puzzle of the 228 Incident, by Academia Historica President Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), is a compilation of major research findings and theses pertaining to the Incident.
The Oral History of the Battle of Wuniulan is a collection of 27 interviews with eyewitnesses and descendants of victims, conducted by Lin Wei-sheng (林偉盛) and several other people. It focuses on the battle between revolutionaries and KMT troops in Wuniulan, today’s Ailan (愛蘭) in Nantou County, shortly after the massacre.
Speaking at a launch event at the National 228 Memorial Museum, Lin said he encountered difficulties when conducting the interviews, as many survivors and witnesses were still afraid to talk even 73 years after the massacre.
Some of the interviewees also spoke at the ceremony.
Liao Kuo-yang (廖國揚) said that he was born after his father was killed in the Battle of Wuniulan, and his uncle was named as his father in his birth certificate for fear of reprisals from the government.
Chang Yang-hao (張洋豪), another interviewee who also lost his father in the battle, said that he saw bodies piled up in the town square after clashes.
Beyond 1947: A Non-daily Memoranda is comprised of eight articles written by a team of history researchers to give a contemporary perspective on the incident, drawing on material from the national archives, oral history and academic research.
The books were published in Mandarin.
Chairman of the memorial foundation Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元) said at the event that the search for truth behind the incident would deepen the values of democracy and human rights in Taiwan, and give its people spiritual strength to deal with external threats.
The foundation would continue to collect and release the names of possible victims of the incident and hopes to achieve information breakthroughs with the aid of new technology, he said.
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or
Greenpeace yesterday said that it is to appeal a decision last month by the Taipei High Administrative Court to dismiss its 2021 lawsuit against the Ministry of Economic Affairs over “loose” regulations governing major corporate electricity consumers. The climate-related lawsuit — the first of its kind in Taiwan — sought to require the government to enforce higher green energy thresholds on major corporations to reduce emissions in light of climate change and an uptick in extreme weather. The suit, filed by Greenpeace East Asia, the Environmental Jurists Association and four individual plaintiffs, was dismissed on May 8 following four years of litigation. The
The New Taipei City Government would assist relatives of those killed or injured in last month’s car-ramming incident in Sansia District (三峽) to secure compensation, Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said yesterday, two days after the driver died in a hospital. “The city government will do its best to help the relatives of the car crash incident seek compensation,” Hou said. The mayor also said that the city’s Legal Affairs, Education and Social Welfare departments have established a joint mechanism to “provide coordinated assistance” to victims and their families. Three people were killed and 12 injured when a car plowed into schoolchildren and their
RSS