President Tsai Ing-wen (???) attended an event in Tainan on Tuesday to commemorate the 76th anniversary of the 228 Incident, a civil uprising in 1947 that led to a bloody government crackdown, vowing that the government “must not make that mistake again.”
Attending with government officials including Premier Chen Chien-jen (???) and Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (???) at the event, Tsai said she was determined to lead a free and democratic society so that Taiwanese people could live with dignity.
“It is my responsibility as a president to enable Taiwanese to pursue freedom and prosperity with dignity, interact with the world with dignity, and be themselves with dignity,” Tsai said.
In her speech, Tsai praised Taiwanese people for their courage, citing life stories displayed in the Tainan 228 Memorial Hall, which was inaugurated last September.
For instance, Tang Te-chang (???), a victim of the 228 Incident who refused to hand over a list of political suspects to the authority, exemplified the fundamental values of Taiwanese society so that future governments know that justice, freedom, and democracy can never be compromised, she said.
The 228 Incident refers to Feb. 28, 1947, when the arrest of a cigarette vendor in Taipei led to large-scale protests by locals against the repression of the then Kuomintang-led government across the island of Taiwan.
The crackdown on the protesters marked the start of the 1949-1987 White Terror era, during which tens of thousands went missing, died, or were imprisoned by the government.
Tsai said her government had been striving to promote transitional justice since she took office in 2016, having rescinded 5,983 wrongful convictions and identified 7,572 political files held by the KMT in the party’s archives that should be returned to the government.
Moreover, the government has identified 42 “historic sites of injustice,” such as detention centers for political prisoners, Tsai said, adding that it is the government’s goal to unveil history to foster more unity.
During the event, the president also presented the son of a 228 Incident victim a certificate to officially redeem him, as most victims were labeled rioters, rebels or communist sympathizers at the time.
Other 228 Incident commemoration events– including parades, movie screenings, concerts, and prayers — were also held Tuesday in Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Hualien County and Pingtung County, among others.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel