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Marches planned to
mark 228 Incident in Taipei and Chiayi
By Lee Hsin-fang / Staff Reporter
Commemorative marches will be held in Taipei and Chiayi City along with a series
of forums to mark the 65th anniversary of the 228 Incident, sources said
yesterday.
The 228 Incident refers to an uprising that began on Feb. 27, 1947, which was
violently suppressed by the KMT government.
A Taiwanese woman was beaten by Monopoly Bureau agents for selling contraband
cigarettes, an incident that sparked a nationwide uprising in the days that
followed and a bloody crackdown on tens of thousands of demonstrators by KMT
troops.
On the 65th anniversary of the 228 Incident, the Taiwan Nation Alliance and the
Taiwan 228 Care Association will be joining members of the Democratic
Progressive Party and pro-Taiwan advocates to commemorate massacre victims by
staging parades and holding forums, sources said.
The theme for this year’s commemoration is “Saving Taiwan starts from you,” the
Taiwan 228 Care Association said.
“Taiwan is faced with a pro-China crisis under the administration of President
Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九),” association chairman Lee Pang-fu (李邦孚) said. “By holding a
series of 228 memorial activities, we hope to arouse Taiwanese self-awareness,
so that Taiwan can be saved by its own people.”
Full details of the event schedule will be announced tomorrow by Taiwan Nation
Alliance convener Yao Chia-wen (姚嘉文).
One event already fixed is a forum next Saturday which will invite academics to
a discussion on the subject of “Taiwanese self-awakening,” sources said.
On Feb. 28, members of pro-localization associations and family members of 228
Massacre victims will stage a memorial march in Taipei, beginning at 2:28pm, the
sources said, adding that a separate commemorative march will be held in Chiayi
City.
The march in Taipei will include the ceremonial release of water lanterns, to
signify the return of the spirits of Massacre martyrs to “join in the effort to
save Taiwan,” the sources said.
Translated by Stacy Hsu, Staff Writer
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