The Memorial Foundation of 228 yesterday launched three books documenting different aspects of the 228 Incident to mark the 73rd anniversary of the massacre.
The 228 Incident refers to a crackdown launched by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime against civilian demonstrators following an incident in Taipei on Feb. 27, 1947.
About 18,000 to 28,000 people, many of them members of the intellectual elite, were killed during the subsequent government crackdown, which lasted into early May 1947.
Photo: CNA
The event also marked the beginning of the White Terror era that saw thousands of people arrested, imprisoned or executed.
The Puzzle of the 228 Incident (拼圖二 二 八), The Oral History of the Battle of Wuniulan (南投二 二 八口述歷史訪談錄) and Beyond 1947: A Non-daily Memoranda (1947之後:二 二 八 (非)日常備忘錄) were launched to cast light on the massacre from different perspectives.
The Puzzle of the 228 Incident, by Academia Historica President Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), is a compilation of major research findings and theses pertaining to the Incident.
The Oral History of the Battle of Wuniulan is a collection of 27 interviews with eyewitnesses and descendants of victims, conducted by Lin Wei-sheng (林偉盛) and several other people. It focuses on the battle between revolutionaries and KMT troops in Wuniulan, today’s Ailan (愛蘭) in Nantou County, shortly after the massacre.
Speaking at a launch event at the National 228 Memorial Museum, Lin said he encountered difficulties when conducting the interviews, as many survivors and witnesses were still afraid to talk even 73 years after the massacre.
Some of the interviewees also spoke at the ceremony.
Liao Kuo-yang (廖國揚) said that he was born after his father was killed in the Battle of Wuniulan, and his uncle was named as his father in his birth certificate for fear of reprisals from the government.
Chang Yang-hao (張洋豪), another interviewee who also lost his father in the battle, said that he saw bodies piled up in the town square after clashes.
Beyond 1947: A Non-daily Memoranda is comprised of eight articles written by a team of history researchers to give a contemporary perspective on the incident, drawing on material from the national archives, oral history and academic research.
The books were published in Mandarin.
Chairman of the memorial foundation Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元) said at the event that the search for truth behind the incident would deepen the values of democracy and human rights in Taiwan, and give its people spiritual strength to deal with external threats.
The foundation would continue to collect and release the names of possible victims of the incident and hopes to achieve information breakthroughs with the aid of new technology, he said.
REPORT: Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining loitering munitions matching the AeroVironment Switchblade 300 or the Anduril Altius-600, ‘Foreign Policy’ said Taiwan is seeking US-made kamikaze drones in an apparent concession to pressure from Washington to focus on asymmetric capabilities to defeat or deter a Chinese attack, Foreign Policy said in a report on Wednesday. Taipei has expressed an interest in obtaining AeroVironment Switchblade loitering munitions or other devices with similar capabilities, it said, citing four sources familiar with the matter commenting on condition of anonymity. The Switchblade 300 is a tube-launched drone designed for attacking ground troops, while its larger sibling, the Switchblade 600, could be used to destroy tanks and entrenched troops. Ukraine has utilized both systems extensively in its fight against
Police officers yesterday morning apprehended the prime suspect of a triple homicide case, after raiding the suspect’s hideout in Taichung. They transported the suspect to New Taipei City for questioning and recorded his statement last night. The suspect, identified as a 24-year-old man surnamed Chang (張), is believed to have used his hands to strangle his wife, surnamed Chen (陳), 29, along with his three-year-old son from a previous marriage and his wife’s mother, 69. The three dead bodies were wrapped in blankets when they were discovered inside their apartment in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) on Saturday. Chang was holding a
Hungarian Member of Parliament Tompos Marton said he considers Taiwan to be a better alternative to China as a strategic partner. Marton, who is the vice president of the opposition Momentum Party, made the remarks in an interview with the Central News Agency on Sunday. He draped a Republic of China flag across his shoulders to protest Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) visit to the capital city, Budapest, on Thursday last week, and openly voiced support for Taiwan on social media. He said in the interview that he wanted to remind the world that there were alternatives to China, and that “Taiwan has
A female physician at New Taipei City’s Shuang Ho Hospital was bullied and made to work for 32 consecutive hours by a senior colleague while pregnant before later having a miscarriage, an internal investigation found, the hospital said on Monday. The perpetrator has been removed from his post, the hospital said. The attending physician in the hospital’s Medical Imaging Department, identified by the pseudonym Y, earlier on Monday told reporters that she had been bullied by a male senior colleague who arranged shifts in her department. In January, shortly after she became pregnant, Y asked the department director if she could avoid overnight