228 Incident
Encyclopedia
The 228 Incident, also known as the 228 Massacre, was an anti-government uprising in Taiwan
that began on February 27, 1947, and was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang
(KMT) government. Estimates of the number of deaths vary from 10,000 to 30,000 or more. The incident marked the beginning of the Kuomintang's White Terror
period in Taiwan, in which thousands more inhabitants vanished, died, or were imprisoned. The number "228" refers to the day the massacre
began: February 28, or 02-28.
In 1945, 50 years of Japanese rule ended, and in October the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
(UNRRA) handed administrative control of Taiwan as a province to the Kuomintang-administered Republic of China
(ROC). A year of KMT administration led to the widespread impression that the party was plagued by nepotism, corruption, and economic failure. Tensions increased between inhabitants and the ROC administration. The flashpoint came on February 27 in Taipei, when a dispute between a cigarette vendor and an officer of the Office of Monopoly triggered civil disorder and open rebellion that lasted for days. The uprising was violently put down by the military of the Republic of China
.
The subject was officially taboo for decades. On the anniversary of the event in 1995, President
Lee Teng-hui
addressed the subject publicly, a first for a Taiwanese head of state. The event is now openly discussed and commemorated as Peace Memorial Day , and details of the event have become the subject of investigation. Every February 28, the president of the ROC gathers with other officials to ring a commemorative bell in memory of the victims. The president bows to family members of 2-28 victims and gives each one a certificate officially declaring the family innocent of any crime. Monuments and memorial parks to the victims of 2-28 have been erected in a number of Taiwanese cities, including Kaohsiung and Taipei. Until today, the criminals responsible for the massacre were never prosecuted and the justice is yet to be done.
As settlement for losing the First Sino-Japanese War
(1894–1895), the Qing Empire relinquished in perpetuity its claims to Taiwan
and Penghu to Japan
in 1895. Armed resistance against the Japanese administrators had been largely put down by the 1920s. Subsequently, Taiwanese perceptions of the Japanese rule are significantly more favorable than perceptions in other parts of East Asia
, partly because during its 50 years of colonial rule (1895–1945), Japan developed Taiwan's economy and raised the standard of living for most Taiwanese people, building up Taiwan as a supply base for the Japanese main islands. Later, Taiwanese adopted Japanese names and practiced Shinto
, while the schools instilled a sense of "Japanese spirit" in students. By the time World War II
began, many Taiwanese were proficient in both the Taiwanese, a derivative of the Hokkien
language which originated in Fujian province in China, and Japanese languages, while still keeping their unique identity.
Following the end of World War II
, Taiwan was placed under the administrative control of the Republic of China
to provide stability until a permanent arrangement could be made. Chen Yi
, the Governor-General of Taiwan, arrived on October 24, 1945, and received the last Japanese governor, Ando Rikichi, who signed the document of surrender on the next day and proclaimed the day as Retrocession Day
. This takeover also turned out to be legally controversial since Japan did not renounce its sovereignty over Taiwan until the Treaty of San Francisco
in 1952, which complicated the political status of Taiwan
. Although Japan renounced their sovereignty over Taiwan, Sakhalin
, Kurile and many other islands in the Treaty, it does not formally state which nations are sovereign over related territories, an issue that some supporters of Taiwan independence use to justify Taiwanese self-determination
according to Article 77 of the Charter of the United Nations, which applies trusteeships to "territories which may be detached from enemy states as a result of the Second World War".
Although the Kuomintang
(KMT) liberation troops were initially welcomed by local inhabitants, the KMT administration led to Taiwanese discontent during the immediate postwar period due to large scale economic unrest produced by the Chinese Civil War
. As Governor-General, Chen Yi took over and expanded the Japanese system of state monopolies in tobacco
, sugar
, camphor
, tea
, paper
, chemicals, petroleum refining, and cement
. He confiscated
some 500 Japanese-owned factories and mines, and tens of thousands of private homes. The Shanghai newspaper Wen Hui Pao reported that Chen ran everything "from the hotel to the night-soil business." Economic mismanagement led to a large black market, runaway inflation
and food shortages
. Many commodities were confiscated and shipped to China
where they were sold for inflated prices furthering the general shortage of goods in Taiwan. The price of rice
rose to one hundred times its original value between the time the Chinese took over to the spring of 1946. It inflated further to four hundred times the original price by January, 1947. Carpetbaggers from China dominated nearly all industry, political and judicial offices, displacing the Taiwanese who were formerly employed; and many of the ROC garrison troops were highly undisciplined, looting, stealing, and contributing to the overall breakdown of infrastructure and public services.
At the same time, many of the Taiwanese viewed the Japanese Empire favorably, harbored anti-Chinese sentiment since many fought against China during World War II, and considered the Chinese as being backwards and corrupt. Because the Taiwanese elite had met with some success with self government under Japanese rule, they had expected the same treatment from the incoming Chinese government. However, the Chinese Nationalists opted for a different route, aiming for the centralization of government powers and a reduction in local authority. The KMT's nation-building efforts went this way because of unpleasant experiences with the centrifugal forces during the Warlord Era that had torn the government in China. The different goals of the Chinese Nationalists and the Taiwanese, coupled with cultural misunderstandings, racial hostility, and governmental corruption served to further inflame tensions on both sides.
On the evening of February 27, 1947, Chinese agents from the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau in Taipei went to a neighborhood on present-day Nanjing West Road, where they confiscated contraband cigarettes from a 40 year old widow named Lin Jiang-mai at the Tianma teahouse (天馬茶房)(25.0540029°N 121.5123282°W). The Chinese agents took away her life savings along with the smuggled cigarettes. She begged for her life savings, but one of the agents cracked Lin's skull with a pistol, prompting the surrounding Taiwanese crowd to chase the Chinese agents. As the agents ran away, they fired their guns into the crowd, killing one bystander named Chen Wen-xi. The mood of the crowd, which had already been harboring many feelings of frustration from KMT rule, reached breaking point. The crowd protested to both the police and the gendarmes, but received no response.
Violence flared the following morning on February 28. Security forces at the Governor-General's Office, using machine guns, fired on the unarmed demonstrators calling for the arrest and trial of the agents involved in the previous day's shooting, resulting in several deaths. Formosans took over the administration of the town and military bases on March 4 and used the local radio station to caution against violence. By evening, martial law
had been declared and curfews were enforced by soldiers in trucks firing at anyone who violated curfew.
For several weeks after the February 28 Incident, the Taiwanese held control of much of Taiwan. Though the initial uprising was spontaneous and peaceful, within a few days the Taiwanese were generally coordinated and organized, and public order in Taiwanese-held areas was upheld by temporary police forces organized by local high school students. Local leaders soon formed a Settlement Committee, which presented the government with a list of 32 Demands
for reform of the provincial administration. They demanded, among other things, greater autonomy, free elections, surrender of ROC Army to the Settlement Committee, and an end to governmental corruption. Motivations among the various Formosans groups varied; some demanded greater autonomy within the ROC, while others wanted UN trusteeship or full independence. Around the same time, many were reportedly considering an appeal to the United Nations to put the island under an international mandate, since ROC's possession of Taiwan had not yet been formally recognized by any international treaties. The Taiwanese also demanded representation in the forthcoming peace treaty negotiations with Japan, hoping to secure a plebiscite to determine the island's political future. A smaller subgroup - including those that later formed the militia known as the "27 Brigade
" , with their weapons looted from military bases in Taichung - were motivated by communist ideology
. The Settlement Committee eventually settled upon the path of requesting greater autonomy, while stopping short of independence.
Feigning negotiation, the ROC authorities under Chen Yi stalled for time while assembling a large military force in China in Fujian
province. Upon arrival on March 8, the ROC troops launched a crackdown. According to the New York Times on March 29, 1947: "An American who had just arrived in China from Taihoku
said that troops from China arrived there on March 7 and indulged in three days of indiscriminate killing and looting. For a time everyone seen on the streets was shot at, homes were broken into and occupants killed. In the poorer sections the streets were said to have been littered with dead. 'There were instances of beheadings and mutilation of bodies, and women were raped,' the American reported."
By the end of March, Chen had jailed or killed all the leading Taiwanese organizers he could identify and catch. His troops reportedly executed (according to a Taiwanese delegation in Nanjing
) between 3,000 and 4,000 people throughout the island. Some of the killings were random, while others were systematic. Taiwanese elites were among those targeted, and many of the Taiwanese who had formed home rule groups during the reign of the Japanese were also victims of the 228 Incident. A disproportionate number of the victims were also Taiwanese middle and high school age youths, as many of them had volunteered to serve in the temporary police forces that were organized by the Committee and the local town councils to maintain public order following the initial rebellion. Many Mainland Chinese civilians who fled to Taiwan in order to avoid civil war also were killed by Taiwanese mobs. Numerous Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese harbored one another during the incident. Taiwanese who spoke Hakka were also targeted by Taiwanese mobs. Several sources have claimed that ROC troops were arresting and executing anyone wearing a student uniform.
Chen Yi was later quoted by TIME
magazine on April 7, 1947, as saying: "It took the Japs 51 years to dominate this island. I expect to take about five years to re-educate the people so they will be happier with Chinese administration."
The initial purge was followed by repression under one-party rule, in what was termed "White Terror
", which lasted until the end of martial law in 1987. Thousands of people, including both Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese, were imprisoned or executed for their real or perceived dissent, leaving the Taiwanese victims among them with a deep-seated bitterness towards what they term the Chinese Nationalist regime, and by extension, all Mainland Chinese.
For several decades, the KMT-ruled government prohibited public discussion of the 228 Massacre and many children grew up without knowing this event had ever occurred. In the 1970s (still under a KMT-controlled government) the 228 Justice and Peace Movement was initiated by several citizens' groups to ask for a reversal of this policy, and, in 1992, the Executive Yuan
promulgated the "February 28 Incident Research Report." Then-President and KMT-chairman Lee Teng-hui
, who as a young nationalist participated in the incident, made a formal apology on behalf of the government in 1995 and declared February 28 a national holiday to commemorate the victims. Among other memorials erected, Taipei New Park was renamed 228 Memorial Park.
Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, the government has set up the 228 Incident Memorial Foundation, a civilian reparations fund supported by public donations for the victims and their families. However, only a few hundred have come forward to claim the money even though the deadline has been extended several times. This may be attributed to the fact that the incident has remained taboo in Taiwan until the lifting of martial law. As a result of this taboo, many descendants of victims remain unaware that their family members were victims, while many of the families of victims from China have also never learned of their relatives' deaths. The families of the massacre victims have demanded the government declassify related documents in order to apprehend any living soldiers responsible for the incident, but the government has not yet acted on this request.
Prior to the 228 massacre, many Taiwanese desired greater autonomy from China but not necessarily outright independence. The failure of conclusive dialogue with the ROC administration in early March, combined with the feelings of betrayal felt towards the government and China in general are widely believed to have catalyzed the Taiwan independence
movement and subsequently Taiwan Name Rectification Campaign after democratization.
Later, the KMT-dominated government systematically laid down a social network as well as numerous rules to discriminate against Taiwanese and ensure better social status for those considered "one of the kin members." Financial subsidies and unfair screening rules in schools as well as government departments further deepened the divide. This mechanism, along with KMT's dominance in military, academics and government system, has been silently but firmly building up an invisible "segregation," that continues to fuel the simmering rivalry on this island.
On February 27, 1980, anti-KMT activist Lin Yi-hsiung
was in detention and beaten severely by the police. His wife saw him in prison and contacted the Amnesty International
Osaka
office. The next day Lin's mother and twin 7 year old daughters were stabbed to death. Lin's older daughter was badly wounded in his home. The authorities claimed to know nothing about it, even though allegedly Lin's house was under 24 hour police surveillance.
On February 28, 2004, thousands of Taiwanese participated in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally
. They formed a 500 kilometres (310.7 mi) long human chain
, from Taiwan's northernmost city, Keelung
, to its southern tip, to commemorate the 228 Incident, to call for peace, and to protest the People's Republic of China
's deployment of missile
s aimed at Taiwan along the coast of Taiwan Strait. The event was organized by the Pan-Green Coalition
. Over two million individuals were estimated to have participated.
Some officials affiliated with the Pan-Blue Coalition
have tried to suppress discussion of the 2-28 Incident and subsequent White Terror by stigmatizing continued raising of the subject as "hate speech" directed at all Chinese who came over with Chiang Kai-shek. Pan-Green Coalition
officials dismiss this as an attempt to reimpose the old taboo on the subject. Other Pan-Blue officials encourage open discussion of the matter, noting that it was a former KMT president (Lee Teng-hui) who apologized on behalf of the government and designated 2-28 as a memorial holiday. The subject remains a volatile one in Taiwan and a source of hostility between the two dominant groups in Taiwan.
and a number of literary works. Hou Hsiao-hsien
's A City of Sadness
, the first movie dealing with the events, won the Golden Lion
at the 1989 Venice Film Festival
.
A Hollywood film called Formosa Betrayed
is due for wide-release in 2010. The film is not based on the historical eyewitness account of the same title by American George H. Kerr
, but instead deals with the era of political assassinations that followed the massacre and the period of White Terror.
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
that began on February 27, 1947, and was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
(KMT) government. Estimates of the number of deaths vary from 10,000 to 30,000 or more. The incident marked the beginning of the Kuomintang's White Terror
White Terror (Taiwan)
In Taiwan, the White Terror describes the suppression of political dissidents, as well as public discussion of the 228 Incident in Taiwan under the period of martial law, which lasted from May 19 1949 to July 15 1987, 38 years, and 57 days...
period in Taiwan, in which thousands more inhabitants vanished, died, or were imprisoned. The number "228" refers to the day the massacre
Massacre
A massacre is an event with a heavy death toll.Massacre may also refer to:-Entertainment:*Massacre , a DC Comics villain*Massacre , a 1932 drama film starring Richard Barthelmess*Massacre, a 1956 Western starring Dane Clark...
began: February 28, or 02-28.
In 1945, 50 years of Japanese rule ended, and in October the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
The United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration was an international relief agency, largely dominated by the United States but representing 44 nations. Founded in 1943, it became part of the United Nations in 1945, was especially active in 1945 and 1946, and largely shut down...
(UNRRA) handed administrative control of Taiwan as a province to the Kuomintang-administered Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
(ROC). A year of KMT administration led to the widespread impression that the party was plagued by nepotism, corruption, and economic failure. Tensions increased between inhabitants and the ROC administration. The flashpoint came on February 27 in Taipei, when a dispute between a cigarette vendor and an officer of the Office of Monopoly triggered civil disorder and open rebellion that lasted for days. The uprising was violently put down by the military of the Republic of China
Military of the Republic of China
The Republic of China Armed Forces encompass the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Military Police Force of the Republic of China . It is a military establishment, which accounted for 16.8% of the central budget in the fiscal year of 2003...
.
The subject was officially taboo for decades. On the anniversary of the event in 1995, President
President of the Republic of China
The President of the Republic of China is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded on January 1, 1912, to govern all of China...
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui is a politician of the Republic of China . He was the 7th, 8th, and 9th-term President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000. He presided over major advancements in democratic reforms including his own re-election which marked the first direct...
addressed the subject publicly, a first for a Taiwanese head of state. The event is now openly discussed and commemorated as Peace Memorial Day , and details of the event have become the subject of investigation. Every February 28, the president of the ROC gathers with other officials to ring a commemorative bell in memory of the victims. The president bows to family members of 2-28 victims and gives each one a certificate officially declaring the family innocent of any crime. Monuments and memorial parks to the victims of 2-28 have been erected in a number of Taiwanese cities, including Kaohsiung and Taipei. Until today, the criminals responsible for the massacre were never prosecuted and the justice is yet to be done.
Background
First Sino-Japanese War
The First Sino-Japanese War was fought between Qing Dynasty China and Meiji Japan, primarily over control of Korea...
(1894–1895), the Qing Empire relinquished in perpetuity its claims to Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
and Penghu to Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
in 1895. Armed resistance against the Japanese administrators had been largely put down by the 1920s. Subsequently, Taiwanese perceptions of the Japanese rule are significantly more favorable than perceptions in other parts of East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
, partly because during its 50 years of colonial rule (1895–1945), Japan developed Taiwan's economy and raised the standard of living for most Taiwanese people, building up Taiwan as a supply base for the Japanese main islands. Later, Taiwanese adopted Japanese names and practiced Shinto
Shinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
, while the schools instilled a sense of "Japanese spirit" in students. By the time World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
began, many Taiwanese were proficient in both the Taiwanese, a derivative of the Hokkien
Hokkien
Hokkien is a Hokkien word corresponding to Standard Chinese "Fujian". It may refer to:* Hokkien dialect, a dialect of Min Nan Chinese spoken in Southern Fujian , Taiwan, South-east Asia, and elsewhere....
language which originated in Fujian province in China, and Japanese languages, while still keeping their unique identity.
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Taiwan was placed under the administrative control of the Republic of China
Republic of China
The Republic of China , commonly known as Taiwan , is a unitary sovereign state located in East Asia. Originally based in mainland China, the Republic of China currently governs the island of Taiwan , which forms over 99% of its current territory, as well as Penghu, Kinmen, Matsu and other minor...
to provide stability until a permanent arrangement could be made. Chen Yi
Chen Yi (Kuomintang)
Chen Yi and later Gongqia , sobriquet Tuisu ; 1883 – June 18, 1950) was the Chief Executive and Garrison Commander of Taiwan after it was surrendered by Japan to the Republic of China, which acted on behalf of the Allied Powers, in 1945...
, the Governor-General of Taiwan, arrived on October 24, 1945, and received the last Japanese governor, Ando Rikichi, who signed the document of surrender on the next day and proclaimed the day as Retrocession Day
Retrocession Day
Retrocession Day is an annual observance in the Republic of China to commemorate the end of 50 years of Japanese colonial rule of Taiwan on October 25, 1945.-Background:...
. This takeover also turned out to be legally controversial since Japan did not renounce its sovereignty over Taiwan until the Treaty of San Francisco
Treaty of San Francisco
The Treaty of Peace with Japan , between Japan and part of the Allied Powers, was officially signed by 48 nations on September 8, 1951, at the War Memorial Opera House in San Francisco, California...
in 1952, which complicated the political status of Taiwan
Political status of Taiwan
The controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan hinges on whether Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu should remain effectively independent as territory of the Republic of China , become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China , or formally declare...
. Although Japan renounced their sovereignty over Taiwan, Sakhalin
Sakhalin
Sakhalin or Saghalien, is a large island in the North Pacific, lying between 45°50' and 54°24' N.It is part of Russia, and is Russia's largest island, and is administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast...
, Kurile and many other islands in the Treaty, it does not formally state which nations are sovereign over related territories, an issue that some supporters of Taiwan independence use to justify Taiwanese self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
according to Article 77 of the Charter of the United Nations, which applies trusteeships to "territories which may be detached from enemy states as a result of the Second World War".
Although the Kuomintang
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang of China , sometimes romanized as Guomindang via the Pinyin transcription system or GMD for short, and translated as the Chinese Nationalist Party is a founding and ruling political party of the Republic of China . Its guiding ideology is the Three Principles of the People, espoused...
(KMT) liberation troops were initially welcomed by local inhabitants, the KMT administration led to Taiwanese discontent during the immediate postwar period due to large scale economic unrest produced by the Chinese Civil War
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was a civil war fought between the Kuomintang , the governing party of the Republic of China, and the Communist Party of China , for the control of China which eventually led to China's division into two Chinas, Republic of China and People's Republic of...
. As Governor-General, Chen Yi took over and expanded the Japanese system of state monopolies in tobacco
Tobacco
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as a pesticide and, in the form of nicotine tartrate, used in some medicines...
, sugar
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
, camphor
Camphor
Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C10H16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel , a large evergreen tree found in Asia and also of Dryobalanops aromatica, a giant of the Bornean forests...
, tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
, paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
, chemicals, petroleum refining, and cement
Cement
In the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance that sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term opus caementicium to describe masonry resembling modern concrete that was made from crushed...
. He confiscated
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
some 500 Japanese-owned factories and mines, and tens of thousands of private homes. The Shanghai newspaper Wen Hui Pao reported that Chen ran everything "from the hotel to the night-soil business." Economic mismanagement led to a large black market, runaway inflation
Inflation
In economics, inflation is a rise in the general level of prices of goods and services in an economy over a period of time.When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services. Consequently, inflation also reflects an erosion in the purchasing power of money – a...
and food shortages
Famine
A famine is a widespread scarcity of food, caused by several factors including crop failure, overpopulation, or government policies. This phenomenon is usually accompanied or followed by regional malnutrition, starvation, epidemic, and increased mortality. Every continent in the world has...
. Many commodities were confiscated and shipped to China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
where they were sold for inflated prices furthering the general shortage of goods in Taiwan. The price of rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
rose to one hundred times its original value between the time the Chinese took over to the spring of 1946. It inflated further to four hundred times the original price by January, 1947. Carpetbaggers from China dominated nearly all industry, political and judicial offices, displacing the Taiwanese who were formerly employed; and many of the ROC garrison troops were highly undisciplined, looting, stealing, and contributing to the overall breakdown of infrastructure and public services.
At the same time, many of the Taiwanese viewed the Japanese Empire favorably, harbored anti-Chinese sentiment since many fought against China during World War II, and considered the Chinese as being backwards and corrupt. Because the Taiwanese elite had met with some success with self government under Japanese rule, they had expected the same treatment from the incoming Chinese government. However, the Chinese Nationalists opted for a different route, aiming for the centralization of government powers and a reduction in local authority. The KMT's nation-building efforts went this way because of unpleasant experiences with the centrifugal forces during the Warlord Era that had torn the government in China. The different goals of the Chinese Nationalists and the Taiwanese, coupled with cultural misunderstandings, racial hostility, and governmental corruption served to further inflame tensions on both sides.
Uprising and crackdown
Violence flared the following morning on February 28. Security forces at the Governor-General's Office, using machine guns, fired on the unarmed demonstrators calling for the arrest and trial of the agents involved in the previous day's shooting, resulting in several deaths. Formosans took over the administration of the town and military bases on March 4 and used the local radio station to caution against violence. By evening, martial law
Martial law
Martial law is the imposition of military rule by military authorities over designated regions on an emergency basis— only temporary—when the civilian government or civilian authorities fail to function effectively , when there are extensive riots and protests, or when the disobedience of the law...
had been declared and curfews were enforced by soldiers in trucks firing at anyone who violated curfew.
For several weeks after the February 28 Incident, the Taiwanese held control of much of Taiwan. Though the initial uprising was spontaneous and peaceful, within a few days the Taiwanese were generally coordinated and organized, and public order in Taiwanese-held areas was upheld by temporary police forces organized by local high school students. Local leaders soon formed a Settlement Committee, which presented the government with a list of 32 Demands
32 Demands
The 32 Demands were a list of proposals for governmental reform issued by the Committee to Settle the Monopoly Bureau Incident during the 228 Incident which occurred in Taiwan in 1947.- Events surrounding the demands :During the first week or so following the general uprising against Republic of...
for reform of the provincial administration. They demanded, among other things, greater autonomy, free elections, surrender of ROC Army to the Settlement Committee, and an end to governmental corruption. Motivations among the various Formosans groups varied; some demanded greater autonomy within the ROC, while others wanted UN trusteeship or full independence. Around the same time, many were reportedly considering an appeal to the United Nations to put the island under an international mandate, since ROC's possession of Taiwan had not yet been formally recognized by any international treaties. The Taiwanese also demanded representation in the forthcoming peace treaty negotiations with Japan, hoping to secure a plebiscite to determine the island's political future. A smaller subgroup - including those that later formed the militia known as the "27 Brigade
27 Brigade
27 Brigade was a guerrilla force formed in Taichung, Taiwan, shortly after the outbreak of 228 Incident. It was organized by Hsieh Hsueh-hung, a leading figure of Taiwanese Communist Party during the Japanese Administration Era, and was led by local Taichung scholar Chung Yi-ren...
" , with their weapons looted from military bases in Taichung - were motivated by communist ideology
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
. The Settlement Committee eventually settled upon the path of requesting greater autonomy, while stopping short of independence.
Fujian
' , formerly romanised as Fukien or Huguing or Foukien, is a province on the southeast coast of mainland China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, and Guangdong to the south. Taiwan lies to the east, across the Taiwan Strait...
province. Upon arrival on March 8, the ROC troops launched a crackdown. According to the New York Times on March 29, 1947: "An American who had just arrived in China from Taihoku
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
said that troops from China arrived there on March 7 and indulged in three days of indiscriminate killing and looting. For a time everyone seen on the streets was shot at, homes were broken into and occupants killed. In the poorer sections the streets were said to have been littered with dead. 'There were instances of beheadings and mutilation of bodies, and women were raped,' the American reported."
By the end of March, Chen had jailed or killed all the leading Taiwanese organizers he could identify and catch. His troops reportedly executed (according to a Taiwanese delegation in Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
) between 3,000 and 4,000 people throughout the island. Some of the killings were random, while others were systematic. Taiwanese elites were among those targeted, and many of the Taiwanese who had formed home rule groups during the reign of the Japanese were also victims of the 228 Incident. A disproportionate number of the victims were also Taiwanese middle and high school age youths, as many of them had volunteered to serve in the temporary police forces that were organized by the Committee and the local town councils to maintain public order following the initial rebellion. Many Mainland Chinese civilians who fled to Taiwan in order to avoid civil war also were killed by Taiwanese mobs. Numerous Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese harbored one another during the incident. Taiwanese who spoke Hakka were also targeted by Taiwanese mobs. Several sources have claimed that ROC troops were arresting and executing anyone wearing a student uniform.
Chen Yi was later quoted by TIME
Time
Time is a part of the measuring system used to sequence events, to compare the durations of events and the intervals between them, and to quantify rates of change such as the motions of objects....
magazine on April 7, 1947, as saying: "It took the Japs 51 years to dominate this island. I expect to take about five years to re-educate the people so they will be happier with Chinese administration."
The initial purge was followed by repression under one-party rule, in what was termed "White Terror
White Terror (Taiwan)
In Taiwan, the White Terror describes the suppression of political dissidents, as well as public discussion of the 228 Incident in Taiwan under the period of martial law, which lasted from May 19 1949 to July 15 1987, 38 years, and 57 days...
", which lasted until the end of martial law in 1987. Thousands of people, including both Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese, were imprisoned or executed for their real or perceived dissent, leaving the Taiwanese victims among them with a deep-seated bitterness towards what they term the Chinese Nationalist regime, and by extension, all Mainland Chinese.
Legacy
Executive Yuan
The Executive Yuan is the executive branch of the government of the Republic of China , commonly known as "Taiwan".-Organization and structure:...
promulgated the "February 28 Incident Research Report." Then-President and KMT-chairman Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui is a politician of the Republic of China . He was the 7th, 8th, and 9th-term President of the Republic of China and Chairman of the Kuomintang from 1988 to 2000. He presided over major advancements in democratic reforms including his own re-election which marked the first direct...
, who as a young nationalist participated in the incident, made a formal apology on behalf of the government in 1995 and declared February 28 a national holiday to commemorate the victims. Among other memorials erected, Taipei New Park was renamed 228 Memorial Park.
Since the lifting of martial law in 1987, the government has set up the 228 Incident Memorial Foundation, a civilian reparations fund supported by public donations for the victims and their families. However, only a few hundred have come forward to claim the money even though the deadline has been extended several times. This may be attributed to the fact that the incident has remained taboo in Taiwan until the lifting of martial law. As a result of this taboo, many descendants of victims remain unaware that their family members were victims, while many of the families of victims from China have also never learned of their relatives' deaths. The families of the massacre victims have demanded the government declassify related documents in order to apprehend any living soldiers responsible for the incident, but the government has not yet acted on this request.
Prior to the 228 massacre, many Taiwanese desired greater autonomy from China but not necessarily outright independence. The failure of conclusive dialogue with the ROC administration in early March, combined with the feelings of betrayal felt towards the government and China in general are widely believed to have catalyzed the Taiwan independence
Taiwan independence
Taiwan independence is a political movement whose goals are primarily to formally establish the Republic of Taiwan by renaming or replacing the Republic of China , form a Taiwanese national identity, reject unification and One country, two systems with the People's Republic of China and a Chinese...
movement and subsequently Taiwan Name Rectification Campaign after democratization.
Later, the KMT-dominated government systematically laid down a social network as well as numerous rules to discriminate against Taiwanese and ensure better social status for those considered "one of the kin members." Financial subsidies and unfair screening rules in schools as well as government departments further deepened the divide. This mechanism, along with KMT's dominance in military, academics and government system, has been silently but firmly building up an invisible "segregation," that continues to fuel the simmering rivalry on this island.
On February 27, 1980, anti-KMT activist Lin Yi-hsiung
Lin Yi-hsiung
Lin Yi-hsiung who sued the ruling KMT party for electoral fraud. Lin was elected a member of Taiwan Provincial Assembly in Guo's old electorate in 1977.-Lin Family Massacre:...
was in detention and beaten severely by the police. His wife saw him in prison and contacted the Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
Osaka
Osaka
is a city in the Kansai region of Japan's main island of Honshu, a designated city under the Local Autonomy Law, the capital city of Osaka Prefecture and also the biggest part of Keihanshin area, which is represented by three major cities of Japan, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe...
office. The next day Lin's mother and twin 7 year old daughters were stabbed to death. Lin's older daughter was badly wounded in his home. The authorities claimed to know nothing about it, even though allegedly Lin's house was under 24 hour police surveillance.
On February 28, 2004, thousands of Taiwanese participated in the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally
228 Hand-in-Hand Rally
The 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally was a demonstration in the form of a human chain held in Taiwan on Peace Memorial Day , 2004. Over 1 million Taiwanese formed a long human chain, from the harbor at Keelung, Taiwan's northernmost city, to its southern tip at Eluanbi, Pingtung County to commemorate the...
. They formed a 500 kilometres (310.7 mi) long human chain
Human chain
A human chain is a form of demonstration in which people link their arms as a show of political solidarity.The number of demonstrators involved in a human chain is often disputed; the organizers of the human chain often report higher numbers than governmental authorities.Notable human chains, in...
, from Taiwan's northernmost city, Keelung
Keelung
Keelung City is a major port city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. It borders New Taipei and forms the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, along with the Taipei and New Taipei. Nicknamed the Rainy Port for its frequent rain and maritime role, the city is Taiwan's second largest seaport...
, to its southern tip, to commemorate the 228 Incident, to call for peace, and to protest the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
's deployment of missile
Missile
Though a missile may be any thrown or launched object, it colloquially almost always refers to a self-propelled guided weapon system.-Etymology:The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, meaning "to send"...
s aimed at Taiwan along the coast of Taiwan Strait. The event was organized by the Pan-Green Coalition
Pan-Green Coalition
The Pan-Green Coalition or Pan-Green Camp, is an informal political alliance of the Republic of China, commonly known as "Taiwan", consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party , Taiwan Solidarity Union , and the minor Taiwan Independence Party...
. Over two million individuals were estimated to have participated.
Some officials affiliated with the Pan-Blue Coalition
Pan-Blue Coalition
The Pan-Blue Coalition 泛藍聯盟 or Pan-Blue Force is a political alliance in the Republic of China , consisting of the Kuomintang , the People First Party , and the New Party . The name comes from the party colours of the Kuomintang...
have tried to suppress discussion of the 2-28 Incident and subsequent White Terror by stigmatizing continued raising of the subject as "hate speech" directed at all Chinese who came over with Chiang Kai-shek. Pan-Green Coalition
Pan-Green Coalition
The Pan-Green Coalition or Pan-Green Camp, is an informal political alliance of the Republic of China, commonly known as "Taiwan", consisting of the Democratic Progressive Party , Taiwan Solidarity Union , and the minor Taiwan Independence Party...
officials dismiss this as an attempt to reimpose the old taboo on the subject. Other Pan-Blue officials encourage open discussion of the matter, noting that it was a former KMT president (Lee Teng-hui) who apologized on behalf of the government and designated 2-28 as a memorial holiday. The subject remains a volatile one in Taiwan and a source of hostility between the two dominant groups in Taiwan.
2-28 Incident in art
A number of artists in Taiwan have addressed the subject of the 2-28 Incident since the taboo was lifted on the subject in the early 1990s. The Incident has been the subject of music by Fan-Long Ko and Tyzen HsiaoTyzen Hsiao
Tyzen Hsiao is a Taiwanese composer of the neo-Romantic school. Many of his vocal works set poems written in Taiwanese, the mother tongue of the majority of the island's residents. His compositions stand as a musical manifestation of the Taiwanese literature movement that revitalized the island's...
and a number of literary works. Hou Hsiao-hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien
Hou Hsiao-Hsien is an award-winning film director and a leading figure of Taiwan's New Wave cinema movement.-Biography:...
's A City of Sadness
A City of Sadness
A City of Sadness is a 1989 Taiwanese historical drama film directed by Hou Hsiao-hsien. It tells the story of a family embroiled in the tragic "White Terror" that was wrought on the Taiwanese people by the Kuomintang government after their arrival from mainland China in the late 1940s, during...
, the first movie dealing with the events, won the Golden Lion
Golden Lion
Il Leone d’Oro is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most distinguished prizes...
at the 1989 Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
.
A Hollywood film called Formosa Betrayed
Formosa Betrayed
Formosa Betrayed is a 2009 American political thriller film directed by Adam Kane, written by Charlie Stratton, Yann Samuell, Brian Askew, Nathaniel Goodman, with story by Will Tiao and Katie Swain, and starring James Van Der Beek...
is due for wide-release in 2010. The film is not based on the historical eyewitness account of the same title by American George H. Kerr
George H. Kerr
George H. Kerr , also known in Taiwan as 葛超智 , was a United States diplomat during World War II, and in later years he was an author and an academic...
, but instead deals with the era of political assassinations that followed the massacre and the period of White Terror.
See also
- History of TaiwanHistory of TaiwanTaiwan was first populated by Negrito, and then Austronesian people. It was colonized by the Dutch in the 17th century, followed by an influx of Han Chinese including Hakka immigrants from areas of Fujian and Guangdong of mainland China, across the Taiwan Strait...
- History of the Republic of ChinaHistory of the Republic of ChinaThe History of the Republic of China begins after the Qing Dynasty in 1912, when the formation of the Republic of China put an end to over two thousand years of Imperial rule. The Qing Dynasty, also known as the Manchu Dynasty, ruled from 1644 to 1912...
- List of massacres in Taiwan
- 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally228 Hand-in-Hand RallyThe 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally was a demonstration in the form of a human chain held in Taiwan on Peace Memorial Day , 2004. Over 1 million Taiwanese formed a long human chain, from the harbor at Keelung, Taiwan's northernmost city, to its southern tip at Eluanbi, Pingtung County to commemorate the...
(in 2004) - Political status of TaiwanPolitical status of TaiwanThe controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan hinges on whether Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu should remain effectively independent as territory of the Republic of China , become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China , or formally declare...
- White Terror (Taiwan)White Terror (Taiwan)In Taiwan, the White Terror describes the suppression of political dissidents, as well as public discussion of the 228 Incident in Taiwan under the period of martial law, which lasted from May 19 1949 to July 15 1987, 38 years, and 57 days...
- Universal Declaration of Human RightsUniversal Declaration of Human RightsThe Universal Declaration of Human Rights is a declaration adopted by the United Nations General Assembly . The Declaration arose directly from the experience of the Second World War and represents the first global expression of rights to which all human beings are inherently entitled...
(1948)
External links
- Formosa Betrayed, a political science book by George H. KerrGeorge H. KerrGeorge H. Kerr , also known in Taiwan as 葛超智 , was a United States diplomat during World War II, and in later years he was an author and an academic...
that offers a Western perspective and interpretation of the 2-28 incident.-Written in 1965 - Formosa Calling, another Western perspective by Allan James Shackleton, B.E., A.M.I.E.E., Written in 1948
- Taipei 228 Memorial Museum
- Collections of US Media Documentations
- Wikipedia Commons: Images Relevant to the 228 Incident
- Reflection on the 228 Event from Taiwan Human Rights InfoNet
- 228 Incident Memorial Foundation
- Bevin Chu, "Taiwan Independence and the 2-28 Incident", AntiWar.com
- Memorandum for the Ambassador on the Situation in Taiwan
- Taiwan Yearbook: History (Government Information Office)
- of Formosan Human Rights (福爾摩沙住民自決)
- Times Editorial (自由時報社論): 228 Were International War Crimes Against The Territorial Sovereignty 二二八不是內部鎮壓而是國際罪行 (美國盟軍統帥有責)