As a critical event in this country's history, the 228 Incident of 1947 provides Taiwanese with an opportunity to reflect on both the violence and terror of that time and injustices that continue to this day.
The wholesale slaughter -- both arbitrary and strategic -- of tens of thousands of civilians and intellectuals by the Chinese Nationalist Party's (KMT) armed forces ended an all-too-brief period in which Taiwanese freely believed that rule by "China" would be benevolent and enlightened.
The main causes of the 228 Incident were the government's corrupt and inept management, the looting of Taiwan's assets by the new administrators and the general oppression of Taiwanese people. A generation of Taiwanese came to distrust the KMT, cutting off politics from the people and elevating the most discreditable elements of society to positions of power.
Last year's 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally, which protested China's military posturing, was a milestone in Taiwan's political history. From one end of the island to the other, 2 million people formed a human chain in an affirmation of peace and democracy. The impact of the rally is thought to have tipped the presidential campaign in President Chen Shui-bian's (
Yesterday, in the face of continuing threats from Beijing, most recently manifested in its proposed "anti-secession law" (
The public is divided on the need for national independence, and therefore lacks a sense of crisis in the face of this anti-secession legislation. But the 228 Incident serves as a lesson of the bloody folly of assuming that outsiders know what is best for Taiwan.
For this reason, prior to the probable passage of the anti-secession legislation in March, the "oppose annexation, protect Taiwan" campaign is under way. This not only serves to remind Taiwanese of the consequences of the legislation, but also serves to warn China and announce to the international community that many Taiwanese do not intend to suffer unilateral determinations as to its fate.
The anti-secession legislation will more than likely be applied to Taiwanese nationals in China, and ordinary people and businesspeople may be victimized on the slightest pretext. Any statement and any action may be sufficient grounds for Taiwanese to be accused of fomenting secession.
In commemorating the 228 Incident this year, the Hand-in-Hand Taiwan Alliance's campaign represents the spirit of the new era. With the Lunar New Year direct charter flights and the bizarre 10-Point Agreement between Chen and People First Party Chairman James Soong (
The move to denounce the legislation and remind the public of China's ill will is therefore a welcome wake-up call at home, for China and for the international community.
Concerns that the US might abandon Taiwan are often overstated. While US President Donald Trump’s handling of Ukraine raised unease in Taiwan, it is crucial to recognize that Taiwan is not Ukraine. Under Trump, the US views Ukraine largely as a European problem, whereas the Indo-Pacific region remains its primary geopolitical focus. Taipei holds immense strategic value for Washington and is unlikely to be treated as a bargaining chip in US-China relations. Trump’s vision of “making America great again” would be directly undermined by any move to abandon Taiwan. Despite the rhetoric of “America First,” the Trump administration understands the necessity of
US President Donald Trump’s challenge to domestic American economic-political priorities, and abroad to the global balance of power, are not a threat to the security of Taiwan. Trump’s success can go far to contain the real threat — the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) surge to hegemony — while offering expanded defensive opportunities for Taiwan. In a stunning affirmation of the CCP policy of “forceful reunification,” an obscene euphemism for the invasion of Taiwan and the destruction of its democracy, on March 13, 2024, the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) used Chinese social media platforms to show the first-time linkage of three new
If you had a vision of the future where China did not dominate the global car industry, you can kiss those dreams goodbye. That is because US President Donald Trump’s promised 25 percent tariff on auto imports takes an ax to the only bits of the emerging electric vehicle (EV) supply chain that are not already dominated by Beijing. The biggest losers when the levies take effect this week would be Japan and South Korea. They account for one-third of the cars imported into the US, and as much as two-thirds of those imported from outside North America. (Mexico and Canada, while
I have heard people equate the government’s stance on resisting forced unification with China or the conditional reinstatement of the military court system with the rise of the Nazis before World War II. The comparison is absurd. There is no meaningful parallel between the government and Nazi Germany, nor does such a mindset exist within the general public in Taiwan. It is important to remember that the German public bore some responsibility for the horrors of the Holocaust. Post-World War II Germany’s transitional justice efforts were rooted in a national reckoning and introspection. Many Jews were sent to concentration camps not
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