Premier Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) yesterday unveiled a monument at the Executive Yuan in Taipei, officially designating it a “historical site of injustice” to commemorate the victims killed during the 228 Incident of 1947.
The Incident refers to the indiscriminate killing of a person in a crowd on Feb. 27, 1947, and the machine-gunning of a resulting protest at what is now the Executive Yuan by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government the next day. Estimates of the number of eventual deaths vary from 10,000 to more than 30,000.
The Incident was closely followed by the White Terror era in Taiwan.
Photo: CNA
Chen said 42 sites have been identified nationwide where past injustice had taken place and work is under way to preserve them.
“It is time for us to recognize rights abuses and atrocities by past governments. By restoration and facing up to history, we can go on to sustain peace and justice for all,” Chen said.
He said that Article 5 of the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例) states that “places where the rulers engaged in large-scale human rights abuses during the period of authoritarian rule shall be preserved or rebuilt, and plans shall be made for their designation as historic sites” was the basis for the project.
“In a few days, it is Feb. 28, the day to commemorate what happened at this place. Currently it is the Executive Yuan compound, but 77 years ago in 1947 it was the Taiwan Provincial Administrative Executive Office,” Chen said.
“This was one of several important sites of the 228 Incident. Today, we are unveiling this monument to pay respect to the families of those who lost their lives here. Without their sacrifice and also the efforts of democracy advocates, Taiwanese today would not have freedom, democracy, rule of law and human rights protections,” he said.
Taiwan 228 Care Association director Wang Wen-hong (王文宏) was invited to attend as a guest of honor. Wang’s father, an elected Kaohsiung city councilor, was killed when trying to mediate between local residents and KMT officials during the Incident.
In his address, Wang praised the government’s efforts on transitional justice and expressed the hope that Chen would facilitate work to identify all “historic sites of injustice” relating to the Incident and the White Terror era before the new president takes over on May 20.
Wang also reiterated the demands of familiy members of the victims that the government complete transitional justice by removing the giant bronze statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei.
“Taiwan does not need to have a memorial hall to Chiang, the military dictator who was responsible for mass killings and atrocities against the people of Taiwan,” he said.
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and accompanying warships were in the Philippines yesterday after holding combat drills with Philippine forces in the disputed South China Sea in a show of firepower that would likely antagonize China. The Charles de Gaulle on Friday docked at Subic Bay, a former US naval base northwest of Manila, for a break after more than two months of deployment in the Indo-Pacific region. The French carrier engaged with security allies for contingency readiness and to promote regional security, including with Philippine forces, navy ships and fighter jets. They held anti-submarine warfare drills and aerial combat training on Friday in
COMBAT READINESS: The military is reviewing weaponry, personnel resources, and mobilization and recovery forces to adjust defense strategies, the defense minister said The military has released a photograph of Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) appearing to sit beside a US general during the annual Han Kuang military exercises on Friday last week in a historic first. In the photo, Koo, who was presiding over the drills with high-level officers, appears to be sitting next to US Marine Corps Major General Jay Bargeron, the director of strategic planning and policy of the US Indo-Pacific Command, although only Bargeron’s name tag is visible in the seat as “J5 Maj General.” It is the first time the military has released a photo of an active
CHANGE OF MIND: The Chinese crew at first showed a willingness to cooperate, but later regretted that when the ship arrived at the port and refused to enter Togolese Republic-registered Chinese freighter Hong Tai (宏泰號) and its crew have been detained on suspicion of deliberately damaging a submarine cable connecting Taiwan proper and Penghu County, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement yesterday. The case would be subject to a “national security-level investigation” by the Tainan District Prosecutors’ Office, it added. The administration said that it had been monitoring the ship since 7:10pm on Saturday when it appeared to be loitering in waters about 6 nautical miles (11km) northwest of Tainan’s Chiang Chun Fishing Port, adding that the ship’s location was about 0.5 nautical miles north of the No.
RSS