President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he would continue to apologize to victims of the 228 Incident and their families, and that while he would not ask for their forgiveness, he could assure them that such atrocities would never be repeated in Taiwan.
Ma said that while the 228 Incident was the most “heinous and important incident” in Taiwan’s modern history, the executions of Chang Chi-lang (張七郎) and two of his sons, Chang Tsung-jen (張宗仁) and Chang Kuo-jen (張果仁), were the most tragic and unjust.
“I cannot believe a government that was about to implement the Constitution could use such a grisly means to make such a serious and irreversible mistake,” he said. “I’m deeply sorry about what happened and I want to apologize. Many people have asked me: ‘Haven’t I apologized enough,’ but my answer to them is that I can never apologize enough.”
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
Bowing to the ceiling-to-floor posters of Chang Chi-lang and his two sons, Ma said he would not ask for the forgiveness of the victims and their families, but he promised them he would never forget such brutality and that he would not allow such a thing to happen again.
“We can forgive errors made in the past, but we should never forget the lessons we learn from them,” he said. “That is a principle I will forever uphold.”
Ma made the remarks when attending a memorial service for Chang Chi-lang and his two sons at the National 228 Memorial Museum.
Yesterday also marked the first day of the museum’s exhibition of their documents and personal effects.
Chang Chi-lang was a National Assembly member who was killed by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops in the aftermath of the 228 Incident. He was one of the Taiwanese who participated in the adoption of the Republic of China (ROC) Constitution in Nanjing, China, on Dec. 25, 1946.
His two sons were practicing medicine at the hospital their father founded in Fonglin Township (鳳林), Hualien County. They were accused of “betraying the party and the country” and “organizing assassination operations.”
They were 31 and 25 when they were executed.
Ma said that as the real reason for the injustice was unclear, he hoped the 228 Memorial Foundation would help discover the truth.
“There is no taboo or inhibition. The more information we have, the clearer the truth will present itself,” he said.
National 228 Memorial Museum chairman Steve Chan (詹啟賢) said the 228 Memorial Foundation had formed a six-person truth-finding task force to study the 228 Incident and individual cases.
However, Chan said the organization does not have any legal powers and can only conduct studies from an historical perspective.
The task force, headed by former Overseas Compatriots Affairs Commission chairperson Chang Fu-mei (張富美), includes two historians, two representatives of victims’ families and two former Control Yuan members.
The foundation also plans to begin providing victims’ families with psychological counseling in a few months, he said, adding that the team would be led by Chen Yong-shing (陳永興), director of Saint Mary’s Hospital in Yilan.
Chang An-man (張安滿), the grandson of Chang Chi-lang, wept as he told stories of his grandfather and his father, Chang Tsung-jen.
He said his grandfather cheerfully welcomed the ROC government and KMT troops after Japan was defeated in World War II, but it was ROC troops who murdered him.
“I always wonder what kind of a government the ROC is and whether the national leaders are humans or beasts. How can they be so cruel to their people and their children? But I don’t have an answer,” he said. “I hope future leaders will never let such atrocities happen to Taiwanese again and that the truth of the 228 Incident will one day be known.”
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS