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Ma has failed to deliver on 228
pledge, critics say
By Chris Wang / Staff Reporter
Taiwan 228 Care Association
Secretary-General Chang Yen-hsian, left, Taiwan National Alliance Convener Yao
Chia-wen, second left, and former 228 Justice Association, Taipei
secretary-general Ouyang Wen, second right, listen as 228 Justice Association,
Taipei Secretary-General Chen Yi-shen explain a series of events to take place
on Feb. 28 at a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
Photo: Chien Rung-fong, Taipei Times
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has failed to
deliver on his pledge to find the truth about the 228 Massacre and its
perpetrators, civic groups and victims’ families said yesterday.
Civic groups plan to highlight Ma’s disappointing record on transitional justice
in his first term with two marches to commemorate the 65th anniversary of the
massacre, group representatives told a press conference.
In a violent suppression of anti-government uprisings that began on Feb. 28,
1947 — two years after the end of Japanese colonial rule — Chinese Nationalist
Party (KMT) troops killed between 18,000 and 30,000 people, the majority of them
Taiwanese and including many of the island’s leaders and intellectuals.
Ma said at the opening ceremony of the renovated National 228 Memorial Museum on
Feb. 28 last year that the government would continue to unearth the truth of the
incident to help future generations understand the historical facts of the
massacre and to make sure such incidents never happen again, Taiwan 228 Care
Association chairman Chang Yen-hsien (張炎憲) said.
However, Ma and his administration had failed to uncover any truths for the
victims’ families in the past four years, he said.
Neither had anyone involved in the incident stepped forward to offer an apology
to the victims and the public, he added.
This is why an alliance of civic groups has organized marches to raise awareness
of the massacre and Ma’s negligence, Taiwan Nation Alliance convener Yao
Chia-wen (姚嘉文) said.
The first march is scheduled for Taipei on Feb. 28 under the theme
“self-salvation to protect Taiwan,” and it will also protest against Ma’s
“pro-China” policies, which the group says are putting Taiwan’s sovereignty in
jeopardy.
A second march is planned for Chiayi City on March 25.
More than 50 memorial services, most of which have been organized by Taiwan’s
Presbyterian Church, and other events would be held nationwide to commemorate
the massacre, the 228 Memorial Foundation said.
Ma is scheduled to attend a memorial ceremony organized by the central
government, to be held at Taipei’s 228 Peace Park on the afternoon of Feb. 28.
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