| February 28 incident | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 On February 28, 1947, crowds gathered at the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau's Taipei branch to protest. Its inventories were piled up and burned. | |||
| Date | February 27 – May 16, 1947 | ||
| Location | Taiwan and Penghu Islands | ||
| Caused by |
| ||
| Goals | Political and economic reform | ||
| Methods | Demonstrations, negotiations, weapons collection, takeovers, armed protests | ||
| Resulted in |
| ||
| Parties | |||
| |||
| Lead figures | |||
| Casualties | |||
| Death(s) | Unknown. A 1992 government report estimated between 18,000 and 28,000[1][2] | ||
The February 28 incident (also called the February 28 massacre,[3][4] the 228 incident,[5] or the 228 massacre)[5] was an anti-government uprising in Taiwan in 1947 that was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang–led nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC). Directed by provincial governor Chen Yi and president Chiang Kai-shek, thousands of civilians were killed beginning on February 28.[6] The incident is considered to be one of the most important events in Taiwan's modern history and was a critical impetus for the Taiwan independence movement.[7]
In 1945, following the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II, the Allies handed administrative control of Taiwan over to China, thus ending 50 years of Japanese colonial rule. Local residents became resentful of what they saw as high-handed and frequently corrupt conduct on the part of the Kuomintang (KMT) authorities, including the arbitrary seizure of private property, economic mismanagement, and exclusion from political participation. The flashpoint came on February 27, 1947, in Taipei, when agents of the State Monopoly Bureau struck a Taiwanese widow suspected of selling contraband cigarettes. An officer then fired into a crowd of angry bystanders, hitting one man, who died the next day.[8] Soldiers fired upon demonstrators the next day, after which a radio station was seized by protesters and news of the revolt was broadcast to the entire island. As the uprising spread, the KMT-installed governor Chen Yi called for military reinforcements, and the uprising was violently put down by the National Revolutionary Army. Two years later, and for 38 years thereafter, the island would be placed under martial law in a period known as the "White Terror".[8]
During the White Terror, the KMT persecuted perceived political dissidents, and the incident was considered too taboo to be discussed. President Lee Teng-hui became the first president to discuss the incident publicly on its anniversary in 1995. The event is now openly discussed, and its details have become the subject of government and academic investigation. February 28 is now an official public holiday called Peace Memorial Day, on which the president of Taiwan gathers with other officials to ring a commemorative bell in memory of the victims. Monuments and memorial parks to the victims of the February 28 incident have been erected in a number of Taiwanese cities. In particular, Taipei's former Taipei New Park was renamed 228 Peace Memorial Park, and the National 228 Memorial Museum was opened on February 28, 1997. The Kaohsiung Museum of History also has a permanent exhibit detailing the events of the incident in Kaohsiung.[9][10] In 2019, the Transitional Justice Commission exonerated those who were convicted in the aftermath.[11]
The number of deaths from the incident and massacre was estimated to be between 18,000 and 28,000.[12] Other estimates are much lower. A government commission was set up under the administration of the pro-Taiwan independence president, Lee Teng-hui, to determine the facts. Using the civil registry set up during the Japanese administration, which was acknowledged by all as very efficient, they determined who was living at the time of the handover to the Chinese administration. The commission was given the power to award to the family of anyone who died in the period of the insurrection and the restoration of Nationalist government rule an amount of NT$6,000,000, about US$150,000. The families did not have to prove that the death was related to the above events. A total of 800 people came forward to get the awards for the people who died during the period.[13]
| February 28 incident | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 二二八事件 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| February 28 Massacre | |||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 二二八大屠殺 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 二二八大屠杀 | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
- ^ Forsythe, Michael (July 14, 2015). "Taiwan Turns Light on 1947 Slaughter by Chiang Kai-shek's Troops". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018.
To somber cello music that evokes 'Schindler's List,' displays memorialize the lives lost, including much of the island's elite: painters, lawyers, professors, and doctors. In 1992, an official commission estimated that 18,000 to 28,000 people had been killed.
- ^ Kristof, Nicholas D. (April 3, 1992). "Taipei Journal – The Horror of 2–28: Taiwan Rips Open the Past". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 13, 2018. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- ^ Wu, Naiteh (July 2005). "Transition without Justice, or Justice without History: Transitional Justice in Taiwan" (PDF). Taiwan Journal of Democracy (1): 10. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 25, 2021.
The memory of the February 28 massacre, although politically taboo during the KMT's authoritarian rule
- ^ "Taiwan's hidden massacre. A new generation is breaking the silence". The Washington Post. March 1, 2017. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
realization that his grandfather had been one of the tens of thousands of victims targeted and murdered in Taiwan's 'February 28 Massacres.'
- ^ a b Shattuck, Thomas J. (February 27, 2017). "Taiwan's White Terror: Remembering the 228 Incident". Foreign Policy Research Institute. Archived from the original on February 15, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
In Taiwan, the period immediately following the 228 Incident is known as the 'White Terror' ... . Just blocks away from the Presidential Palace in Taipei is a museum and park memorializing the victims of the 228 Massacre
- ^ "China's other massacre". June 4, 2019. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2022.
- ^ Fleischauer, Stefan (November 1, 2007). "The 228 Incident and the Taiwan Independence Movement's Construction of a Taiwanese Identity". China Information. 21 (3): 373–401. doi:10.1177/0920203X07083320. S2CID 143766317.
- ^ a b Chou, Wan-yao (2015). A New Illustrated History of Taiwan. Translated by Plackitt, Carole; Casey, Tim. Taipei: SMC Publishing Inc. p. 317. ISBN 978-957-638-784-5.
- ^ Ko, Shu-ling; Chang, Rich; Chao, Vincent Y. (March 1, 2011). "National 228 museum opens in Taipei". Taipei Times. p. 1. Archived from the original on April 30, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
- ^ Chen, Ketty W. (February 28, 2013). "Remembering Taiwan's Tragic Past". Taipei Times. p. 12. Archived from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved November 14, 2014.
- ^ Lin, Sean (October 6, 2018). "Commission exonerates 1,270 people". Taipei Times. Taipei. Archived from the original on May 13, 2019. Retrieved August 22, 2019.
- ^ Forsythe, Michael (July 14, 2015). "Taiwan Turns Light on 1947 Slaughter by Chiang Kai-shek's Troops". The New York Times. Archived from the original on October 27, 2018.
To somber cello music that evokes 'Schindler's List,' displays memorialize the lives lost, including much of the island's elite: painters, lawyers, professors, and doctors. In 1992, an official commission estimated that 18,000 to 28,000 people had been killed.
- ^ "DPP questions former Premier Hau's 228 victim figures". The China Post. Taipei. February 29, 2012. Archived from the original on November 29, 2014. Retrieved November 14, 2014.