Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) on Saturday unveiled a monument and opened a special exhibition to commemorate the 75th anniversary of the 228 Incident.
Protesters on Feb. 28, 1947, demanded the arrest of those responsible for the indiscriminate killing of a bystander in an angry crowd the previous day, and were machine-gunned by security personnel. A brutal crackdown followed, in which tens of thousands died during nearly four decades of martial law.
The monument, called The Starting Point to the Road of Justice and Courage (正義與勇氣之路起點), has been placed at the former Tainan Prefecture Council, which housed an assembly hall during Japanese rule.
Photo: Hong Jui-chin, Taipei Times
“Setting up this monument and the permanent exhibit, titled ‘Justice and Courage,’ we hope the public learns the stories of the heroic figures who were the early leaders of the Taiwanese democracy movement, and of the legacy left by their work,” Huang said at the inauguration ceremony.
“By learning about these historical figures and the events that took place in Tainan, we hope the public can cherish the freedom and democracy that we enjoy today,” he said.
Designated as a civic historical site, the former Tainan Prefecture Council is under renovation to become the 228 Memorial Hall, scheduled to open this July, Huang said.
“With its opening, along with a special exhibit and new projects, the city government will undertake more work and resources for people to learn our history, and to remember those pioneers and city forefathers,” he said.
Among those in attendance at the ceremony were family members of people who were killed in the 228 Incident — descendants of lawyer Tang Te-chang (湯德章), public prosecutor Wang Yu-ling (王育霖) and university professor Lim Bo-seng (林茂生).
“Among the areas where conflict erupted during the 228 Incident, one of them was here at old Tainan Prefecture Council. It is the right place for the city’s 228 Memorial Hall, given its place in history and its meaning for local people,” said Wang’s son, Wang Ke-shao (王克紹), a medical practitioner now in his 70s.
The monument lists nearby locations related to the 228 Incident.
“We will also list other commemoration sites and relics of historic human rights incidents, so the public can take self-guided tours starting at this place,” Tainan Cultural Affairs Bureau director Yeh Tse-shan (葉澤山) said.
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