The government is seeking to identify potential victims of the 228 Incident who were previously unrecorded, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, adding that a new report on the brutal crackdown would be issued later this year.
Tsai made the remarks while receiving an overseas group of family members of victims.
In her address to the group, she said that victims’ families have long been concerned about the progress of transitional justice, adding that without their reminders, the government would not be able to honestly face the important event in the nation’s history and reflect on it, nor would there be any progress.
Photo: CNA
Since the beginning of Taiwan’s democratization, the government has made a series of efforts to implement transitional justice, including admitting its wrongdoing, issuing apologies to the victims of the Incident, launching investigations and offering compensation, Tsai said.
However, the process of discovering the truth and pursuing justice has no end, she said, adding that the government has the responsibility to contribute more.
In the past two years, the government has been more attentive than ever to the work of transitional justice, she said.
The 228 Incident was triggered by a clash between government officials and an illegal cigarette vendor in Taipei on Feb. 27, 1947, leading to protests a day later that were violently suppressed.
The crackdown triggered a broader anti-government uprising that was put down by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) forces.
An estimated 18,000 to 28,000 people were killed during the crackdown, which lasted into early May that year, a 1992 probe commissioned by the Executive Yuan found.
From the legal side, the 2017 passage of the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例) offers solid legal ground for the implementation of transitional justice, Tsai said.
From an organizational perspective, the Transitional Justice Promotion Committee last year began its work and the 228 Memorial Foundation would continue to unearth details about the Incident and identify potential victims who were previously unknown, she said.
Through the National Human Rights Museum that officially opened last year, the public would have more opportunities to better understand the implications of transitional justice, she added.
“We will never forget and we will not stop” seeking the truth, seeking those accountable and promoting history education, Tsai said.
She said that she hopes family members of the Incident’s victims would continue to provide suggestions and participate in relevant discussions to more thoroughly implement transitional justice.
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
Democracies must remain united in the face of a shifting geopolitical landscape, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Tuesday, while emphasizing the importance of Taiwan’s security to the world. “Taiwan’s security is essential to regional stability and to defending democratic values amid mounting authoritarianism,” Tsai said at the annual forum in the Danish capital. Noting a “new geopolitical landscape” in which global trade and security face “uncertainty and unpredictability,” Tsai said that democracies must remain united and be more committed to building up resilience together in the face of challenges. Resilience “allows us to absorb shocks, adapt under
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday said it is building nine new advanced wafer manufacturing and packaging factories this year, accelerating its expansion amid strong demand for high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. The chipmaker built on average five factories per year from 2021 to last year and three from 2017 to 2020, TSMC vice president of advanced technology and mask engineering T.S. Chang (張宗生) said at the company’s annual technology symposium in Hsinchu City. “We are quickening our pace even faster in 2025. We plan to build nine new factories, including eight wafer fabrication plants and one advanced
RSS