Several hundred family members of Communist Party members killed during the White Terror era gathered in Taipei’s Machangding Memorial Park (馬場町紀念公園) yesterday for a memorial service, calling for a peace agreement with China as part of transitional justice efforts to address the legacy of the Chinese Civil War.
Members of the Taiwan Area Political Victims Mutual Help Association stood for a moment of silence in front of a temporary memorial showing victims’ names and photographs before offering flowers and eulogies.
Numerous readings, songs and performances recalled the Chinese Civil War, including the Song of Rest, which was previously used by the Chinese Communist Party to eulogize alleged victims of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) oppression.
Some of those killed during the White Terror era were affiliated with the Communist Party, while preventing and uprooting communist infiltration were used by the KMT as a key justification for its tactics.
Machangding has historical significance as the site of a former execution ground where many White Terror era prisoners were shot.
While the Taiwan Area Political Victims Mutual Help Association traces its roots to the 1980s and has held annual memorial services since 1993, yesterday’s service was the first to feature calls for a peace agreement with China, in addition to calls for historical justice, association president Tsai Yu-jung (蔡裕榮) said, adding that the new emphasis was meant as a response to the Democratic Progressive Party’s assumption of power following January’s national elections.
“The sacrifices of the 1950s were a direct result of the civil war, which caused the administration of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to move to solidify its authority, while the US encouraged his oppression for the sake of maintaining an international front against communism,” he said, adding that many victims were inspired by dreams for peace and development in China and the “third world.”
“This truth has been suppressed for a long time to the point that it is no longer accepted by Taiwanese, but that is still what we believe,” he said.
“Transitional justice will only be realized if we ‘transition’ away from the state of civil war and move toward cross-strait peace,” he said. “Just talking about the oppressors without talking about cross-strait relations will only tear Taiwan apart.”
Yesterday’s memorial service was attended by Non-Partisan Solidarity Union Legislator May Chin (高金素梅), but was otherwise bereft of political figures, with Tsai saying the Presidential Office also had not sent any representatives despite his group’s invitation.
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