To commemorate the 73rd anniversary of the 228 Incident on Friday, dozens of civic groups yesterday marched through the streets of Taipei, passing landmarks associated with the Incident as participants read out the names of victims.
The procession passed in front of the Executive Yuan, which is housed in what was the Taiwan Governor’s Office during the Japanese colonial era, as well as the Tianma Tea House (天馬茶房), outside of which a female cigarette vendor was beaten by a Tobacco Monopoly Bureau officer, setting off events that led to the massacre.
The 228 Incident refers to an uprising that began on Feb. 27, 1947, and was violently suppressed by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government starting the next day. Estimates of the number of deaths vary between 10,000 and 30,000 or more. It marked the beginning of the White Terror era.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
Sitting in a wheelchair, Lee Jung-chang (李榮章) yesterday said that his father, lawyer Lee Jui-han (李瑞漢), was last seen 73 years ago when he was dragged away by military police and that to this day, the truth has not been revealed and his father’s body has not been found.
Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation executive Cheng Ching-hua (鄭清華) compared the nation’s post-World War II history to documenting a healing process that began after the trauma from the Incident.
However, the Taiwanese public has not given the trauma — which has affected not only victims of the Incident, but many others — enough attention, he said.
Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation head Maysing Yang (楊黃美幸) said that 73 years after the massacre, many questions remain unanswered.
The 228 Memorial Foundation said that turnout for a central commemoration ceremony on Friday at Taipei’s 228 Memorial Park (二二八紀念公園) is expected to be lower than in previous years due to fears over COVID-19, adding that it hopes to limit participants to about 160 to prevent the possible spread of the disease.
Masks, disinfectant alcohol and forehead thermometers would be available at the event, while the relatives of victims would also wear masks, foundation CEO Yang Chen-long (楊振隆) said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) are scheduled to make an appearance, he added.
Also on Friday, Foundation chairman Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元) is to publish a 600,000-word report titled “A Report on the Truth About the 228 Incident and Transitional Justice,” while the Gongsheng Music Festival is to be held on Ketagalan Boulevard in Taipei.
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
STILL DANGEROUS: The typhoon was expected to weaken, but it would still maintain its structure, with high winds and heavy rain, the weather agency said One person had died amid heavy winds and rain brought by Typhoon Krathon, while 70 were injured and two people were unaccounted for, the Central Emergency Operation Center said yesterday, while work and classes have been canceled nationwide today for the second day. The Hualien County Fire Department said that a man in his 70s had fallen to his death at about 11am on Tuesday while trimming a tree at his home in Shoufeng Township (壽豐). Meanwhile, the Yunlin County Fire Department received a report of a person falling into the sea at about 1pm on Tuesday, but had to suspend search-and-rescue
RULES BROKEN: The MAC warned Chinese not to say anything that would be harmful to the autonomous status of Taiwan or undermine its sovereignty A Chinese couple accused of disrupting a pro-democracy event in Taipei organized by Hong Kong residents has been deported, the National Immigration Agency said in a statement yesterday afternoon. A Chinese man, surnamed Yao (姚), and his wife were escorted by immigration officials to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, where they boarded a flight to China before noon yesterday, the agency said. The agency said that it had annulled the couple’s entry permits, citing alleged contraventions of the Regulations Governing the Approval of Entry of People of the Mainland Area into the Taiwan Area (大陸地區人民進入台灣地區許可辦法). The couple applied to visit a family member in
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