The government is obligated to uncover the truth behind the 228 Massacre and relieve the pain of victims’ families, President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said yesterday, dismissing comments by former premier Hau Pei-tsun (郝柏村) earlier this week that cast doubt on the number of people killed in the incident.
Ma, attending an exhibition in Taipei in memory of members of the judiciary killed in the massacre, acknowledged the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime’s poor handling of the incident and said his administration would continue efforts to uncover the historical truth, learn lessons and avoid making the same mistakes.
“The focus is not on the number of the people that were killed ... The then-government mishandled the incident and of course the government is responsible for the consequences,” he said at Taipei’s 228 Memorial Museum.
Photo: CNA
The president’s remarks came amid a recent dispute over Hau’s comments that only about 500 people — instead of the commonly seen estimates of about 30,000 — were killed during the massacre.
In a Chinese-language op-ed piece published in the United Daily News on Tuesday, Hau challenged the content of a history textbook which states that more than 10,000 people were killed during the 228 Massacre and said that in his view, only a little more than 500 people were killed in the crackdown.
The 228 Massacre refers to a nationwide uprising against the KMT regime that broke out on Feb. 27, 1947, two years after the KMT took over Taiwan, because of government corruption and economic hardships.
The op-ed drew a strong reaction from victims’ families, who criticized Hau for what they said were distortions of the truth.
Ma, who has emphasized his efforts to uncover the truths about the incident, dismissed Hau’s comments for the first time yesterday.
Family members of the victims who attended the exhibition yesterday also condemned Hau, urging him not to rub salt into their wounds.
“The actual number of victims is not the most important issue here, but no one should take advantage of the massacre,” said Wang Ke-shao (王克紹), whose father was taken by the KMT during the incident, never to return home.
“The number of people who were killed in the incident is clearly stated, it was between 18,000 and 28,000,” he said.
Wang said his father, the first Taiwanese to serve as a prosecutor in Japan, was taken away by the KMT on March 14, 1947, for reasons that were never disclosed.
While agreeing with the government that the massacre was not a confrontation between ethnic groups, he demanded that government documents be released and that an archive be established that is accessible to families of the victims.
“At least let me know when my father died, where he died and what the crimes he was accused of were,” he said.
Attending the exhibition, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌), the son of Hau Pei-tsun, declined to comment on his father’s controversial remarks while insisting that the government should be devoted to uncovering the truth.
“The truths of the 228 Massacre should be uncovered and we should learn the lessons. More importantly, we must be sympathetic about the hardship and the pain of the victims’ families,” he said.
The 228 exhibition displays manuscripts and artifacts from members of the judiciary who were killed in the uprising.
The exhibition reminds the government of the serious consequences of incorrect policy decisions and it helps memorialize the spirits of the dead, said Hau Lung-bin, who organized the event.
The exhibition at the 228 Memorial Museum runs until June 3.
Additional reporting by CNA
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
‘NOT ALONE’: A Taiwan Strait war would disrupt global trade routes, and could spark a worldwide crisis, so a powerful US presence is needed as a deterrence, a US senator said US Senator Deb Fischer on Thursday urged her colleagues in the US Congress to deepen Washington’s cooperation with Taiwan and other Indo-Pacific partners to contain the global security threat from China. Fischer and other lawmakers recently returned from an official trip to the Indo-Pacific region, where they toured US military bases in Hawaii and Guam, and visited leaders, including President William Lai (賴清德). The trip underscored the reality that the world is undergoing turmoil, and maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region is crucial to the security interests of the US and its partners, she said. Her visit to Taiwan demonstrated ways the
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
RELEASED: Ko emerged from a courthouse before about 700 supporters, describing his year in custody as a period of ‘suffering’ and vowed to ‘not surrender’ Former Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) was released on NT$70 million (US$2.29 million) bail yesterday, bringing an end to his year-long incommunicado detention as he awaits trial on corruption charges. Under the conditions set by the Taipei District Court on Friday, Ko must remain at a registered address, wear a GPS-enabled ankle monitor and is prohibited from leaving the country. He is also barred from contacting codefendants or witnesses. After Ko’s wife, Peggy Chen (陳佩琪), posted bail, Ko was transported from the Taipei Detention Center to the Taipei District Court at 12:20pm, where he was fitted with the tracking
RSS