Remember the 228 massacre:
Taiwan’s greatest human rights tragedy
Leslie Ruo
After the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945, General MacArthur authorized Chiang Kai-shek, leader of the KMT Chinese Nationalist, to occupy Taiwan on behalf of the Allies. Thus ended 50 years of Japanese rule in Taiwan. However, Taiwan’s international status has been undetermined since the end of World War II.
At this point in history, Taiwan had evolved separately and distinctly from China for four hundred years. Japanese administration had resulted in an educated people, respect for the rule of law, and a modern infrastructure. In short, despite the war, Taiwan was a much more modern and prosperous society than China.
Into this peaceful and sincerely welcoming island came Nationalist (Kuomingtang) Chinese maladministration.
Less than two years of corrupt and discriminatory Chinese rule resulted in widespread food shortages and fear of starvation (where once there were food surpluses). Ironically, the Taiwanese people recalled that life under the Japanese, despite its shortcomings, was preferable to the carpet-bagging Kuomingtang Chinese regime.
On February 28, 1947, about two thousand people gathered in front of the Bureau of Monopoly in Taipei to protest the brutal beating of a woman cigarette peddler and the killing of a bystander by the police on the previous evening. The Chinese Governor, Chen Yi, responded with machine guns, killing several people on the spot.
Uprisings erupted. What ensued was a series of massacres on the island by the troops sent from China under the orders of Chiang Kai-shek. This resulted in the deaths of more than 30,000 Taiwanese people, followed by an era of white terror (including arrests and mysterious disappearances of countless additional people) led by the military police during four decades of martial law.
Fifty-two years later, Taiwan has evolved into a democratic country, thanks to those brave people who sacrificed their lives, blood and freedom to continue the relentless fight for democracy and human rights.
Taiwanese people will forgive but never forget such a tragic page of Taiwan’s history. In reconciliation with this painful past, they want to commemorate February 28th as the day of peace. May peace prevail on the island and earth.
The Taiwanese-Canadian Association of Saskatoon and the Taiwanese Students’ Association at the University of Saskatchewan are planning a series of activities to commemorate the 1947 February and March Massacres in remembrance of the tens of thousands of Taiwanese killed by Chiang Kai-shek’s Republic of China government immediately following February 28, 1947.
In addition to commemorating those who suffered, the presentation at the University of Saskatchewan, entitled, "Remember the 2-28 Massacre: Taiwan’s Greatest Human Rights Tragedy", strives to bring awareness to the U of S campus and the local community about the abuses committed against the Taiwanese people and the resulting surge of Taiwanese identity. Representatives of Students for a Free Tibet will be joining us to remember the on-going human rights abuses in Tibet and will be marking 40 years of brutal Chinese occupation of Tibet on March 10, 1999. In addition, a section of our display, titled "228 Today", will highlight other human rights abuses in Asia.
228 commemoration activities:
March 1: 11 a.m. - 3 p.m., the Arts Tunnel. Students will exhibit an artistic memorial and picturesque display. Poems composed by the victims’ families ("2-28 Massacre" and Martial Law) will be read and played during the noon hour.
March 8-10: The display will be presented again in the Arts Tunnel. FEBRUARY 24: UC Berkeley’s campus newspaper, the Daily Californian, contained a spread commemorating the "2-28 Massacre".
March 9: Saskatoon premiere screening of VOICES in Arts 143 at 7 p.m. VOICES is the culmination of a senior thesis by recent Yale graduate Jimmy Hsiao. It traces the causes and consequences of the massacre of Taiwanese by the Chiang Kai-Shek troops on February 28, 1947. Through vivid eyewitness accounts and scholarly analysis, Hsiao recreates a compelling and horrifying story that is only now being publicly discussed.
Please join us for this educational perspective on a tragic incident that changed the course of Taiwanese history. More details and background can be found at our website: <duke.usask.ca/~ss_tsa/228/index.html>.
Silencing the voices of the oppressed
Being politically sensitive is one way to avoid prejudice
Leslie Ruo
As a follow-up to the recent 228 Massacre commemoration at the U of S, it is important to establish an overview of the state of Taiwan today.After the 228 massacres, Taiwanese voices were virtually silenced during nearly four decades of martial law from 1949-1987. Today, Taiwan is an emerging democracy.
Several important points need to be considered when discussing Taiwan’s current state of human rights. These include internal factors such as the entrenched corruption of the ruling Kuomingtang (KMT) regime and the devastating impact of such a long period of political oppression.
In addition, external pressures, especially from the People’s Republic of China and the resulting engagement policies toward China adopted by most nations, also threaten the Taiwanese voice. Under martial law, most of the political and civil rights guaranteed in the constitution were suspended. Freedoms of expression, association and assembly are still greatly restricted. Many overseas Taiwanese dissidents had been "blacklisted" and denied visas to return to Taiwan. There is still a law forbidding congregation and rally which is considered a threat to national security, social order, or public welfare.
According to Amnesty International’s 1997 report, an aboriginal activist faced imprisonment as a prisoner of conscience, 15 people were sentenced to death, and 21 were executed. Notably, there is evidence that three prisoners on death row were innocent and had confessed under torture.
According to an annual report by the U.S. State Department on World Human Rights on Taiwan, the independence of the judiciary is also uncertain.
Civil rights’ violations, such as arrests and searches without warrant, tortures in prison, and deaths in police custody, are common occurrences. Restrictions on academic freedom and labour union activities, discrimination against women and minority groups especially the aborigines, child labour, prostitution, and violations in other areas of human rights, are still rampant. Although Taiwan is in the process of democratizing, it is not a true democracy yet. First, the constant bullying by the People’s Republic of China whenever Taiwanese elections are held, is directed at dissuading Taiwanese voters and politicians from advocating independence.
Secondly, the political playing field is not level, due to the pervading presence of the ruling party KMT, which is exercising its control beyond normal government functions. The KMT enterprise has vast financial resources (1998 profit CDN$600 million), it controls the media, and civil servants are not neutral.
What is clear, however, is that there is a growing sense of Taiwanese identity as fewer and fewer Taiwanese view themselves as Chinese, and this was corroborated by a December 1998 referendum in Tainan. Perhaps, most importantly, Taiwanese students are finally beginning to be taught Taiwanese history. A striking example of the irregular state of democracy in Taiwan can be found in the December 1998 Taipei mayoral elections in which the incumbent, Chen Shui-bian, with a 70 per cent approval rating, lost to the KMT candidate. This would certainly be impossible in a true democracy. During these island-wide local elections, vote buying was common, but very few were caught because the candidate has to be caught doing the vote buying in order to have an effect on the election. Since no candidate will be stupid enough to do it him or her self, the KMT is in effect encouraging vote buying.
In addition, there is the underlying bullying by China that has only been exacerbated by President Clinton’s "Three ‘No’s" voiced in Beijing last year (which are contrary to U.S. Foreign policy), as well as the western media’s labeling of Mr. Chen as a radical who promotes Taiwan’s sovereignty. Finally, it is important to understand the roots of Chinese claims to Taiwan.
It was interesting to note the reaction from some Chinese students to our display. Often, with regard to Tibet, the same paternalistic attitude that the KMT Chinese had towards the Taiwanese in 1947 persists today with some Chinese students from Communist China. Tibet was described as a backward country which China had liberated. However, we should not be too harsh in our judgment, as the same kind of attitude persisted in Canada’s treatment of the First Nations peoples.
What is at the root of this? As the notable Taiwanese dissident Dr. Peng Ming-min points out in his book A Taste of Freedom, "It is difficult for the Chinese to distinguish between ethnic origin, culture and language on the one hand, with politics and law on the other."
This archaic obsession of claiming as Chinese any member of the Chinese family, no matter how removed from China geographically, historically and politically, is espoused by both the Chinese communists and the Chinese Kuomingtang. Thus, it is not surprising that the separation of ethnicity from political entities is not readily recognized by most of the Chinese who saw our display.
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