Former Presidential Office deputy secretary-general Chang Tsu-i (張祖詒), at the age of 104, has published a book titled The President and I: A historical record of unusual times in politics (總統與我：政壇奇緣實錄).
In the book, Chang writes about a visit to the Dasi Archives in 1984 at the request of then-president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), to study dossiers and records relating to the 228 Incident.
The purpose was to allow Chang to investigate the role of the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government — at the time based in Nanjing — to assess the extent to which it made mistakes and was responsible for the massacre.
After gaining access to the archive and studying its records, Chang concluded that “the instructions issued by the central government were fair and reasonable, and I suggested to President Chiang that there would be no harm in opening the files up to the public.”
However, Chiang disagreed.
On page 249 of the book, Chang wrote that the facts surrounding the massacre “contained in black and white within the archive’s files,” should be transferred to the Academia Historia Office or the National Archives Administration for preservation.
Chang argued that, given the transfer of political power, it was time for all files and records concerning the then-government’s handling of the 228 Incident to be opened up to the public “so as to prevent anyone from tampering with the records, such as by adding or obliterating Chinese characters, or by inserting or removing the pages of a file.”
Chang must be unaware that in 1997, the Academia Historia Office published the three-volume work “Academia Historia Office Historical Materials and Files Relating to 228” (國史館藏二二八檔案史料).
Starting in 2002, the office began publishing a multi-volume series of additional files it had obtained titled “Archives Materials on the 228 Incident” (二二八事件檔案彙編).
As of February last year, with the assistance of the National Archives Administration, the office has now published 29 volumes in this series.
The 27th volume contains records from the office’s “Dasi Files” collection — which were later renamed the “Chiang Kai-shek Presidential Files” — consisting of confidential files and telegrams, biographical accounts and “revolutionary documents” pertaining to the Incident.
The 27th volume is 599 pages, and represents a complete collection of all the files and materials inspected by Chang at the Dasi Archives in 1984.
Additionally, the office has collaborated with the National Archives Administration to build the “228 Incident Files Database” — an online catalogue of 17,000 core files relating to the Incident. The resource has been online since October 2020 and can be found at 228.drnh.gov.tw.
Chang’s belief that Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) “displayed leniency” toward Taiwanese during the Incident is primarily founded upon a telegram Chiang Kai-shek sent on March 13, 1947, which instructed then-governor general Chen Yi (陳儀) to “assume responsibility for strictly prohibiting reprisals by military administration officials, or face punishment for insubordination.”
However, a correct historical understanding cannot be formed by relying on a single source.
On the eve of the Incident as anti-government protests were rippling across Taiwan, Chiang Kai-shek sent Chen a telegram which read: “According to [intelligence] reports, Chinese Communist Party elements have infiltrated Taiwan and have now been activated... Taiwan Province is different from the mainland: Senior officials and army commanders have the authority to find an expedient way to deal with the situation.”
The timeline is important.
This earlier telegram must be read in conjunction with the March 13 telegram calling for restraint. Furthermore, the March 13 telegram was issued in response to a telegram sent by Yang Liang-kung (楊亮公), who had been dispatched to Taiwan by the Control Yuan in China to monitor the situation.
Yang sent a telegram to then-Control Yuan president Yu You-ren (于右任) asking Yu to forward a request to the central government that it should give the local government in Taiwan strict orders to refrain from taking retaliatory measures.
Yu replied to Yang’s message saying: “I have met with Chen.”
After the massacre, which involved multiple retaliatory attacks on innocent citizens, commendations were handed out to military officials and not one was punished for insubordination.
Not only did Chiang Kai-shek personally authorize the dispatch of troops from China to put down the rebellion, after the event, he disregarded advice and doubled down on his decision by shielding Chen from criticism, and promoted Peng Meng-chi (彭孟緝) — known as the “Butcher of Kaohsiung” for his role in the Incident — to head the Taiwan Garrison Command.
Why does Chang continue to ignore these facts?
For people like Chang, no amount of evidence will persuade them that the KMT government was culpable. They are unwilling to face the truth.
Nevertheless, the government must continue to courageously follow through with the transitional justice process to ensure that it is on the right side of history.
Chen Yi-shen is president of Academia Historica.
Translated by Edward Jones
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