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The historical
significance of 228
By Lin Yung-mei 林詠梅
In 1895, the government of the Qing Dynasty in China signed the Treaty of
Shiminoseki, officially ceding Taiwan to Japan. For the next 50 years, Taiwan
and China developed along different paths.
As a result of the Meiji Restoration, Japan had adopted Western knowledge and
new ideas, such as the rule of law, medicine, industry and education, seeing
dramatic changes in Japanese society and culture and transforming the nation
into a great power in Asia. When Taiwan became a Japanese colony, it too had
this Western culture transposed upon it.
Among the many changes Japan made to Taiwan were the construction of roads,
telecommunications, schools and hospitals practising modern medicine and
hygiene, as well as major improvements to agriculture. Taiwan saw improvements
in all aspects of life and soon it was one of the most industrialized nations in
Asia, second only to its colonial master, Japan. The Taiwanese, too, were
becoming educated, taking on Western concepts and the latest ideas from around
the world. In the short space of only 20 years, the Taiwanese public was
starting to become politically engaged.
Taiwanese were now demanding political equality, rallying around the idea of the
self-determination of peoples currently popular in European countries, and
seeking new rights in the spirit of liberty, equality and fraternity. With the
subsequent militarization of Japan, such ideas of freedom were being suppressed
both in Japan itself and in Taiwan, making the Taiwanese all the more convinced
of the need for democracy, freedom and human rights.
Compare this with the contemporaneous situation in China. By this time, the Qing
Dynasty was in serious decline, strangled by its dictatorial system and
corruption. For thousands of years, the cycle of dynastic change in China had
seen different regimes come and go, but the country was never able to escape
from authoritarian rule.
Even when Republic of China (ROC) founding father Sun Yat-sen (孫中山) overthrew
the Qing in 1911, establishing the ROC, China continued to be under the control
of a dictatorial regime. Nothing changed, despite a succession of presidents
following the establishment of the republic.
The country soon descended into infighting between local warlords, subsequently
becoming embroiled in the Second Sino-Japanese War and then the civil war
between the nationalists, under the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), and the
communists, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
The land was devoid of the rule of law and of discipline, awash with corruption
and greed. The people had absolutely no assurances over their possessions or
their personal safety and were entirely at the mercy of fate.
Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and the KMT held the reins of power amid all this chaos.
Chiang was the classic totalitarian dictator.
The experiences of the two countries could not have been more different.
Suddenly, without warning, the lives of the Taiwanese were again transformed as
the KMT forces occupied their island. One can imagine how difficult it was for
the Taiwanese having to come to terms with the clash of these two cultures. The
Manchurian warlord and KMT supporter Zhang Xueliang (張學良) commented on the
situation in Taiwan at about the time of the 228 Incident, saying: “They [the
KMT] are trampling on the Taiwanese.”
Two years later, in 1949, defeated by the communist forces, Chiang fled to
Taiwan with the KMT army, instigating the White Terror and establishing martial
law in Taiwan. During these long years, the Taiwanese continued to struggle for
democratic freedoms. At the same time, a small number of intellectuals in China
were engaged in a similar struggle.
After 1988, former presidents Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) and Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁)
oversaw the transition to democracy in Taiwan and the development of freedoms
for the people living here. Freedom of speech has enabled the protection of
human rights, the environment and society, and today, Taiwanese enjoy the same
freedoms as other citizens of the modern world, bringing the same assurances of
order, peace and reason. Taiwanese have already become accustomed to living
under democratic freedoms. This is the new cultural environment in Taiwan.
However, this new culture is the antithesis of how the KMT and CCP would choose
to govern. No dictator would countenance democratic freedoms.
Therefore, when President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in 2008, he started
kowtowing to the CCP in China, bulldozing much of what has been built by the
Taiwanese democratization process using Chinese investment and the pro-China
media and villifying the personal and political achievements of those who have
promoted the process here. As Ma moves closer to bringing his dream of eventual
unification to fruition, Taiwanese are getting closer to the day when they will
once more suffer occupation by Chinese forces and suppression or massacre at
their hands.
From the above, it is evident that, having followed different historical paths,
Taiwan has developed a culture with entirely different values than those held in
China. Taiwanese must ensure that we are never again subjected to life under a
dictatorship, that we will never allow another 228 to happen.
Lin Yung-mei is the daughter of Taiwanese intellectual and 228 victim Lin Mo-sei
(林茂生).
Translated by Paul Cooper
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