Hundreds of music fans yesterday took in performances by independent musicians at the Gongsheng Music Festival (共生音樂節) in Taipei, a student-led event aimed at raising youth awareness of the 228 Incident.
The event marked the 68th anniversary of the 228 Incident, which refers to nationwide anti-government uprisings that began on Feb. 27, 1947, and a series of bloody purges that followed in the subsequent months by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime.
The festival featured performances from many prominent folk singers and indie rock bands, accompanied by dozens of stands promoting the ideas of civic advocacy groups.
Photo: George Tsorng, Taipei Times
Lectures on the 228 Incident took place next to the music venue, while volunteers from activist groups weaved through the audience to garner support for various social causes and petitions — ranging from campaigns against land seizures to grassroots support for Taiwanese independence.
This year’s festival theme was “The Youth Rise Again,” in reference to the upsurge in youth activism over the past few years, including the Sunflower movement in March and April last year, in which student-led protesters occupied the main chamber of the Legislative Yuan for almost 23 days over the government’s handling of the cross-strait service trade agreement.
Now in its third year, the event was spearheaded by a coalition of students from several universities nationwide.
The organizers said that like contemporary Taiwanese youth devoted to social reform, many youth organizations stand against the authoritarianism of the 228 Incident.
“We wanted to emphasize the role of youth activism in relation to the 228 Incident,” National Taiwan University political science student and event organizer Chen Ming-kai (陳銘凱) said.
He added that the event has garnered more support and attention as a result of the Sunflower movement last year.
Freddy Lim (林昶佐), lead singer of the metal band Chthonic and founding member of the New Power Party, said that it was important to spread knowledge of Taiwanese history through such events.
“The whole world knows that Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) is among the top five dictators in the world, who slaughtered the most people during peacetime, but it seems like only Taiwanese people do not know and continue to vote his party [the KMT] into office,” Lim said while pointing toward the nearby Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall.
Taiwan Association for Truth and Reconciliation executive secretary Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) said that although many historical files from Taiwan’s authoritarian period have been made public — including those related to the 228 Incident and the subsequent White Terror era — not enough government resources have been devoted to conducting research on the files.
She urged young Taiwanese to conduct their own historical research on Taiwan’s authoritarian past by applying for files through the National Archives Administration’s online system.
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