More than 200 people yesterday marched in Taipei ahead of the 74th anniversary of the 228 Incident.
The incident refers to a crackdown by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime against anti-government protests that began on Feb. 28, 1947, when security personnel at the Governor-General’s Office in Taipei — now the site of the Executive Yuan building — opened fire on civilian demonstrators who were demanding the arrest of those responsible for the killing of a bystander in an incident the previous day.
The bystander was part of a crowd that had gathered outside Taipei’s Tianma Tea House (天馬茶房) on Nanjing W Road to challenge Tobacco Monopoly Bureau officials after one of them struck Lin Chiang-mai (林江邁), a woman selling cigarettes illegally.
Photo: Peter Lo, Taipei Times
The incident was followed by the imposition of martial law, which lasted from May 19, 1949, to July 15, 1987, during which political dissidents were suppressed and many were killed.
Yesterday’s rally was the fifth in a series of annual demonstrations first organized in 2017 by the Tsai Jui-yueh Dance Research Institute and the Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation and Memorial Museum.
The demonstrations are aimed at reminding the government of its “historical duty,” organizers said.
This year’s event was led by the Provisional Office of the Formosa Youth Council and the National Taiwan University Written Taiwanese Society, with “Burying Authoritarianism” and “Making Formosa” the central themes, they said.
Dozens of groups, including the Taiwan Association for Human Rights, Covenants Watch and the 228 Memorial Foundation, were represented at the march, they added.
The marchers, most of whom were dressed in black, gathered outside Rixin Elementary School in Datong District (大同) at about 1:30pm, before starting their march after 2pm.
They walked past the Tianma Tea House, the Taipei branch of the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau and the former site of the Taiwan Broadcasting Station, before stopping at the Executive Yuan.
The purpose of “remembering the past is to move toward a better future,” Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation and Memorial Museum director Cheng Chu-mei (鄭竹梅) said before the march began.
She urged people to think about the kind of country they wanted, adding: “We should continue to speak while we still can.”
The names of people who died during the 228 Incident were also read aloud during the march.
Pointing out that yesterday’s demonstration coincided with International Mother Language Day, National Taiwan University Written Taiwanese Society president Lim Jiu Sin (林柔辰) said that in addition to lives, language and culture were also taken.
“I hope that everyone can get our mother language back together,” she said in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese).
‘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