228 Day is a national holiday on Feb. 28 in Taiwan to remember the victims of the 228 Incident (二二八事件) or 228 Massacre (äºŒäºŒå…«å¤§å± æ®º).
What Happened on 2-28?
>p>The February 28 Incident actually began on Feb. 27, 1947. Lin Chiang-mai (林江é‚), a widow, was selling cigarettes in a park in Taipei when two agents from the Monopoly Bureau approached her and tried to take her money and goods. At this time, the government had a monopoly on sales of tobacco and alcohol.
Lin resisted and one of the agents hit her in the head with his pistol. The commotion caught the attention of onlookers who gathered around. In an effort to escape the angry mob, one agent fired his gun into the crowd, killing one bystander. The agents ran away, and the crowd burned their truck.
The next day, 2,000 demonstrators walked from the park to the Monopoly Bureau to demand the execution of the two agents, the resignation of the Monopoly Bureau’s director, and a revision of monopoly regulations. Finding the Bureau’s gates locked and guarded, the crowd moved to Governor-general Chen Yi’s (陳儀) office, where guards fired at them. Two demonstrators were killed and several others wounded.
In another part of Taipei, two Monopoly Bureau agents were killed after bystanders saw them allegedly mistreating two children who were selling cigarettes. The angry crowd also ransacked a Monopoly Bureau office. Meanwhile, a radio station reported a demonstration was taking place and scores of people gathered in Taipei’s streets.
Two days later, demonstrations spread throughout Taiwan, including the island’s nine largest cities. Some Taiwanese who had received military training from the Japanese wore their old uniforms while protesting in the streets. Since much of Taiwan’s military and police force had been sent to Mainland China to fight the Chinese Communists in the Chinese Civil War, there wasn’t enough military and police presence to stop the crowds.
Taiwanese not only turned on the Mainlander-dominated provincial government but also vented their frustration on Mainlander civilians too. Some 1,000 Mainlanders were killed. Many went into hiding or barricaded themselves inside government buildings or at a camp in northern Taipei to avoid being killed.
In an effort to end the violence and protests, Chen Yi met with an unofficial group called the Committee to Settle the Monopoly Bureau Incident, which included business professionals and members of government organizations. During negotiations, the Settlement Committee submitted 32 Demands to strengthen provincial self-rule and secure basic political and civil rights.
The demands included: autonomous status for Taiwan as a province of the Republic of China (ROC); increased Taiwanese representation in the provincial government; freedom of speech, press, and assembly; the right to strike; the disbanding of independent police forces; economic reforms, including the abolition of the Monopoly and Trade bureaus; and measures to curb abuses by Mainlander soldiers against Taiwanese civilians, including abolishing the ROC military garrison on the island.
Chen Yi stalled negotiations while requesting military reinforcements from Mainland China. He then denounced the Settlement Committee and reinstituted martial law, which would not be lifted until Jul. 15, 1987. Troops began arriving in Taiwan Mar. 8 and proceeded to rape, loot, and plunder at will. The military regained control of Taiwan’s major cities by Mar. 13 and the rest of the island by Mar. 21.
Once the provincial government had retaken control, a campaign to locate and purge political enemies began. While the government initially reported that only a few hundred Taiwanese were killed, several thousand (some estimate upwards of 20,000) were murdered, thousands were jailed, and roughly 3,000 dissidents fled the island.
The 228 Incident was the beginning of the White Terror (白色æ怖, Báisè KÇ'ngbù) period in Taiwan. During the White Terror, which reached its height in the 1950s and did not end completely until martial law was lifted in 1987, thousands of dissidents were charged as communist subversives and killed or jailed. During this period, public discussion of the 228 Incident was forbidden.
What Led to 228?
From 1895 to 1945, Japan occupied Taiwan. Following Japan’s surrender of Taiwan in 1945, the Nationalist Party-led ROC government took control of Taiwan. Chen Yi was appointed governor of Taiwan.
During this post-War period, there was widespread discontent among Taiwanese with the Mainlander-dominated administration, which many viewed as worse than the previous Japanese colonial authority. Many Taiwanese felt that Mainlanders were draining Taiwan’s wealth and resources and excluding Taiwanese from jobs, especially in the public sector and the military.
As the central government in Nanjing focused on fighting the civil war, many young Taiwanese men were conscripted into the army, sometimes forcibly, and sent to the Mainland to fight the Chinese Communists. The Taiwanese complained of a breakdown in public safety, citing abuses and a lack of discipline on the part of the ROC police and military on the island.
Perhaps the most important factors in sparking the incident were economic. Inflation soared between 1946 and 1947 while the provincial government enforced monopolies over key commodities and nationalized property and assets formerly held by the Japanese colonial authority. The incident on Feb. 27, 1947 was the spark that ignited a firestorm of rage against the government.
What Do People Do on 2-28 Day?
å'Œå¹³ç´€å¿µæ—¥ (HépÃng Jìnià nrì, Peace Memorial Day) was not celebrated until after 1995. On Feb. 28, 1995, President Lee Teng-hui (æŽç™»è¼) the first Taiwan-born leader of the post-War period, publicly apologized for the massacre and declared Feb. 28 a national holiday. Lee became the first public official to discuss the taboo subject. The 228 Memorial Museum, located inside the 228 Peace Park (二二八å'Œå¹³ç´€å¿µå…¬åœ') was opened in Taipei in 1997.
Government offices, schools, and most businesses are closed Feb. 28. The president rings a commemorative bell for the victims and bows to the victims’ families. 228 peace parks and monuments have been erected in Taipei and Kaohisung and serve as a constant reminder of the atrocity.
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