228 Incident
tvan
February 28, 2009, 04:19 AM posted in General Discussion
On the Chinese side of the date line, today is the anniversary of a 1947 Nationalist Chinese massacre now referred to as 228. On February 28, 1947, the Nationalist Chinese military put down a largely peaceful protest with machine gun fire killing over 10,000 Chinese. (The conservative estimate!) This Wiki article gives a reasonable synopsis of the incident. For more detail there are also several western eyewitness accounts in the public domain. I've read one of them, Formosa Betrayed by George Kerr, which provides a chilling account, albeit one considered by some as slanted towards the Taiwanese elite. This web page presents a different perspective of how mainland Chinese were targeted by both the Nationalist Party and local Taiwanese reprisals.
For the many sinophiles on this site, this is old hat, and I apologize. Also, I am not expressing an opinion on unification, which is one that Chinese need to decide. Nevertheless, to understand cross-strait relationships, one has to understand February 28 and the Taiwanese White Terror that followed. 2-28 is now commemorated every year by politicians and has a memorial park in Taipei
tvan
February 28, 2009, 02:17 PMmantiao, you are absolutely right. There was an active dissident movement largely centered in the SF Bay Area and fueled by returning students educated abroad. Also, Chiang Ching-kuo's two legitimate sons were half-Russian, so a dynastic succession ala Singapore was out of question.
calkins
February 28, 2009, 05:45 AMI know it's a sensitive topic, but I would love to see an unbiased lesson on cross-strait relations.
If you're gonna get a lesson on that, it could come from no other place than Cpod (see 河莉秀, Capital Punishment, The Drug Dealer, etc.).
tvan
February 28, 2009, 05:52 AMChangye, as I'm sure you know, the Japanese were not the gentlest of rulers, particularly in the beginning. Maybe they learned from the Europeans. Still, I think your observation is sound; many elderly Taiwanese spoke Japanese when I lived there and rightly admired Japanese culture.
The Taiwan-Japan relationship seems somewhat akin to that of two other successful Chinese ex-colonies toward their former colonial masters: Hong Kong and Singapore.
changye
February 28, 2009, 05:52 AMHere is the first movie featuring 228 incident, made in Taiwan in 1989. I coudn't find the video at Chinese download sites, perhaps because it's banned in mainland. Of course, there are a lot of pirate DVDs of the film in the PRC.
非情城市 （A City of Sadness）
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_City_of_Sadness
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JzNaOKZ80w&feature=related
tvan
February 28, 2009, 06:07 AMAnother reason I brought this up is because 1980's Taiwan reminds me a lot of present-day China, albeit writ small. Then most Taiwanese/Chinese were generally free and prosperous; however, though criticism of the government was tolerated, criticism of the party could lead to serious reprisals. Of course, the both the Nationalist and CCP were designed around the Soviet model.
Calkins, I was hoping this wasn't too sensitive since it avoids the unification issue. How big of a deal is 228 in Taipei?
miantiao
February 28, 2009, 06:21 AMJiang jieshi was a despot, just like mao, the only thing dividing the two was politics and socio-economic background..
Jiangjieshi, and future guomindang leaders ruled taiwan as an autocracy with an iron fist until the first democratic elections in the late 80s.
growing civil unrest forced the guomindang to hold elections. The guomindang woke up to the fact that growing calls for democracy that may lead to militant protests would have given the mainland government justification for an invasion.
This is in itself evidence that the guomindang are not pro-mainland, but rather seeing no way for re-unification on their terms - governing the mainland - chose to share power with the popular indigenous parties.
Many old taiwanese, and some not so old, recall how anyone who openly or covertly opposed the guomindang would disappear or would be indefinitely incarcerated.
An anecdote: 10 years ago my friend Agui used to often tell me how he would be beaten by teachers at school if heard speaking taiwanese(a dialect of fujianhua). He told me he felt his culture and identity were being stolen.
He told me his grandfather was murdered by soldiers when he protested against his land being confiscated by the guomindang.
the guomindang were no saints, far from it.
And, like mao in the mainland, an elaborate tomb for the despot has been erected in the capital so people can come and pay their respects to the founding father.
changye, interesting date - 1989 - for the movie release. I'm sure the first elections in taiwan were in 1988.
tvan
February 28, 2009, 06:38 AMMiantiao, Chen Shuibian changed the name from to 國立臺灣民主紀念館/Democracy Memorial or something like that a while ago. I remember that it was a campaign issue and the new president was going to change it back. I never heard if he followed through or not.
I brought up the parallels between 1980's Taiwan and present-day China because I felt it was a hopeful one.
changye
February 28, 2009, 05:16 AMTaiwanese people's relatively favorable attitudes towards Japan/Japanese should be partly attributed to the performances of the Kuomingtang government after the war. I hear that Taiwan people said like this at that time, "(日本) 狗走了，(中国) 猪来了".
miantiao
February 28, 2009, 07:04 AMtvan
the last time i was in taiwan was ten years ago. i witnessed the election of 阿扁.i was on scholarship then so didn't really understand all the election issues because my mandarin was still in it's infancy, and still is really after giving it up for 8 years. according to calkins' above post the name has been changed. i left shortly after the election of 98 so still remember it as a memorial to jiangjieshi.
in regard to 80's taiwan and present day mainland, you may be right, i can't say because i wasn't there. however, there is one thing that the taiwanese of the 80's could look forward to, free elections. that won't happen here for another 100 years according to a speach given by 胡锦涛 in australia a couple of years back.
228 carries a lot of meaning to taiwanese, it is a reminder of guomindang atrocities and according to my taiwanese friend was never spoken about or remembered in public before 88.
despots come dressed in all types of political clothing.
it only takes an event like 911 to weaken the resolve of democracies to ensure individual rights.
how many rights have we lost since then? well, i've been given the right to be arrested and held indefinitely on suspicion. i always board a plane cleanshaven.
zhenlijiang
February 28, 2009, 07:08 AMa trailer for the Japan release of A City of Sadness, one of my favorite films and not just because of Tony Leung:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLcnPS3FgNo
i love the way this director eschews designs to make us get his point from certain scenes or moments (the also wonderful 李安 does that a bit--working long in America will do that to you i think), and just lets the time flow and spread before our eyes.
a Taiwanese director who, at least in the 80s, insisted on opening his films with "in 1949, the year of Taiwan's 建国--" obviously has no hope of being welcomed on the mainland. i don't know how many or few mainland Chinese have seen his work, but regardless of their political beliefs it's such a loss for them and for him if they haven't because 侯孝贤 is one of the most talented contemporary Chinese filmmakers. i mean Chinese of course not in any political sense. when governments keep important artists exiled and deprive any people of any part of their own culture it's a tragedy.
changye
February 28, 2009, 08:50 AMI only hope that Taiwanese people and politicians would keep practicing "Chinese wisdom" represented by the proverb 宁为鸡口勿为牛后(or 猪后?).
calkins
February 28, 2009, 11:08 AMTvan & Miantiao, regarding the name change of CKS Memorial Hall:
On 19 May 2007 a new name for the structure, "National Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall" (國立臺灣民主紀念館) was announced by then President Chen Shui-bian. The Executive Yuan set up organic regulations intending to administratively effect the name change. However, the KMT-controlled Legislative Yuan subsequently blocked an attempt to amend the legislation governing the regulations. As a result, there were disputes as to whether the name change had been legally effective. In subsequent legal wrangling, the legislature repealed the organic regulations supporting the new name in a partisan vote.
KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou was elected the 12th President of the Republic of China on March 22, 2008. President Ma took office on May 20. Ma had earlier pledged to restore the name of CKS Memorial Hall, the original hall contents (flags and guards), and the inscription on both the central gate and door.
The Executive Yuan on August 21, 2008, under the new Ma Administration, officially restored the name "National Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall" to the hall. As on November 2008, the inscription designating the plaza Liberty Square As to when or whether to restore original signs throughout the memorial, the president said that public opinion would be consulted before any final decision was made. remains in place.
According to the news from China Times on January 22, 2009, the original plaque for the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall will be reinstated in July this year since the Legislative Yuan has already made the decision. Hall director Tseng Kun-Ti said that there would be no legal problem if the original plaque for CKS Memorial Hall reinstates.
miantiao
February 28, 2009, 12:17 PMwell, 就是这样吧。国民党还是跟共产党一样当强盗
tvan
February 28, 2009, 01:53 PMMantiao, above you said, "the taiwanese of the 80's could look forward to, free elections." Actually, during the 1980's there was no real prospect of elections. Chiang Ching-Kuo ruled with an iron fist. A seminal event of the White Terror was the assassination of Henry Liu in the Daly City, California circa 1984 by Chinese gangsters at the behest of Chiang Ching-kuo. Though living in Taiwan at the time, I had many Bay Area Taiwanese friends. The incident sent shock waves through the local Taiwanese community. However, at the same time Ching-kuo was relaxing the rule and setting the stage for a non-dynastic transition. When he died, Ma took over, and the rest is history.
Back to the future, Calkins, thanks for the first-hand update. I found this article in English on the Taipei Times site. 228 Shoes? The president's response is also informative.
miantiao
February 28, 2009, 02:06 PMtvan
i find it hard to believe that free elections could jus appear out of nowhere. there would have had to have been a growing movement that pressured the ruling guomindang to share power. cheers for your info anyway, it just goes further to prove that the guomindang were just as much tyrannical and despotic as their mainland communist cousions
calkins
February 28, 2009, 06:41 AMTvan, there definitely seems to be (from the sounds of the streets) more street ceremonies going on today. I'm heading out in a bit and may pass by 228 Memorial Park to see if anything is going on.
Apparently, some protesters (of the current KMT government) plan to copy the Bush and Wen shoe-throwings, and do the same today to President Ma when he gives a speech. I guess that's the thing to do to world leaders these days.
calkins
February 28, 2009, 05:07 AMTvan, thanks for this. I've always heard about 228, but never read about it in full detail. There was a lot more to it than I thought.
'Formosa Betrayed' looks like a must-read for anyone living in China or Taiwan. I will definitely check it out. Here's a link to the book on Amazon, if you prefer it over the PDF Tvan provided.
Thanks again.