The daughter of late democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕) yesterday urged Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) to face his purported family’s “dark history.”
Chiang, 44, is the purported great-grandson of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣中正).
Speaking to the media before an annual march by civil groups commemorating the Incident, Cheng Chu-mei (鄭竹梅), Deng’s daughter, said the event was to promote love, peace and justice so that people in Taiwan would not forget the Massacre and how it has affected Taiwan.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Asked about Chiang Wan-an’s planned attendance at a 228 memorial event in Taipei later in the day, she urged him to “honestly face history and what his family has done to this land.”
“Only by squarely facing the past will he be able to gain the trust of citizens in Taiwan,” she said.
On April 7, 1989, Deng, who was editor-in-chief of Freedom Era Weekly (自由時代週刊), set himself alight as heavily armed police attempted to break into his office following 71 days of self-imposed isolation after he was charged with sedition by the then-KMT government for publishing a draft “Taiwan Republic Constitution” in 1988.
Photo: CNA
Chiang Wan-an has previously said he cared about the 228 Incident and that the city government would not avoid the issue of transitional justice.
His comments came after the Taiwan National Alliance refused to cohost this year’s 228 Incident memorial with the Taipei City Government.
This year’s march was organized by more than 50 civil groups, including the Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation, which was founded in memory of Deng. The annual march has been held since 2017.
Photo: CNA
It began at Rixin Elementary School in Datong District (大同) at about 10am. Participants marched to the former location of the Tianma Teahouse (天馬茶房) in Taipei’s Dadaocheng (大稻埕) neighborhood, where the shooting that sparked the 228 Incident occurred, and placed wreaths of flowers at a memorial plaque there.
The participants marched to several sites where other major incidents occurred before concluding the event outside the Executive Yuan building, which was formerly the headquarters of the now-defunct Taiwan Provincial Government.
Speaking at the conclusion of the march, foundation executive director Luna Liu (劉璐娜) cited Deng as saying that only by learning the whole truth of the Incident could people prevent similar tragedies.
Photo: CNA
Liu called on the government to continue to push for transitional justice and urged Taiwanese to unite in seeking the truth about the massacre.
To advance transitional justice, Cheng Chu-mei called on all parties to engage in rational discussion about how to handle remaining symbols of Taiwan’s authoritarian past.
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