Declassified materials from the former Secrecy Bureau (保密局) have revealed the names of another 931 228 Incident victims, 228 Memorial Foundation chairman Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元) said yesterday.
The 228 Incident refers to the nationwide anti-government uprisings that began on Feb. 27, 1947, and a series of bloody purges that followed in the subsequent months by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime.
The foundation, after cross-analyzing names with declassified documents from the bureau, has identified another 931 victims, Hsueh said.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
“The number of victims is expected to be exponentially more” than what was previously announced and they are not all listed in the documents from the bureau, Hsueh said, adding that the foundation would continue to sift through the declassified files and would make a general report on Feb. 28 next year, the commemoration date of the Incident.
The foundation would continue to report the truth of the Incident as more information is made available, he added.
The Incident was a severe violation of human rights, and in Taiwan, where freedom, human rights and democracy have become important, Taiwanese should endeavor to let the world know more about the massacre, Hsueh said.
It would allow people internationally to understand Taiwan’s situation, Hsueh added.
While there are publications about the Incident in French, there is not a French publication of the interviews of the victims and their families, Hsueh said.
The foundation is promoting publication of a book titled The Testimonies of Silence (沉默的證言), which is to be published in English and French, Hsueh said, adding that additional versions in Japanese and other languages would also be published so foreigners could learn about the Incident.
Meanwhile, the Executive Yuan has readied a draft amendment for the Act for Handling and Compensation for the 228 Incident (二 二 八事件賠償及處理條例) as of June 1 next year, which is awaiting legislative approval.
The act was promulgated on Oct. 7, 1995, and its expiration period on compensation has been extended five times. The latest expiry date was May 23.
Foundation executive chief Yang Chen-lung (楊振隆) said that while the foundation is not accepting petitions for assistance with compensation motions, such services would be reopened to the public after the amendment passes the legislature.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
SHIFT: Taiwan’s better-than-expected first-quarter GDP and signs of weakness in the US have driven global capital back to emerging markets, the central bank head said The central bank yesterday blamed market speculation for the steep rise in the local currency, and urged exporters and financial institutions to stay calm and stop panic sell-offs to avoid hurting their own profitability. The nation’s top monetary policymaker said that it would step in, if necessary, to maintain order and stability in the foreign exchange market. The remarks came as the NT dollar yesterday closed up NT$0.919 to NT$30.145 against the US dollar in Taipei trading, after rising as high as NT$29.59 in intraday trading. The local currency has surged 5.85 percent against the greenback over the past two sessions, central
RSS