U.S. REPRESENTATIVE CALLS UPON COLLEAGUES TO COMMEMORATE TAIWAN’s 2-28 MASSACRE

In light of the 62nd anniversary of Taiwan’s 2-28 Massacre on February 28, 2009, Rep. Scott Garrett (R-NJ) issued a statement in the Congressional Record dated February 26 urging his colleagues to join him in commemorating that tragic chapter in Taiwan’s history.

The statement recounts the history of the massacre and concludes: “In some ways, the 2-28 incident was similar to the “Boston Massacre” that occurred in the Massachusetts colony in 1770. Both events launched a movement to full democracy and helped galvanize a struggle for independence.”

FAPA President Bob Yang, PhD says: “2-28 must never be forgotten. The time is now that the Kuomintang Nationalist party must make amends for the crimes it committed during the massacre and its protracted aftermath of White Terror.”

Yang concludes: “We can not change the past, but we need to make sure that another 2-28 will never take place in Taiwan…”

CONGRESSIONAL RECORD
February 26, 2009

Madame Speaker, I rise today to observe commemorate the 62nd commemoration of Taiwan’s “2-28 Massacre.”

On February 28, 1947, the brutal arrest of a female civilian in Taipei led to large-scale protests by the native Taiwanese against the repression of Chiang Kai-shek’s Chinese Nationalists, who occupied Taiwan on behalf of the Allied Forces after Japan’s defeat in 1945.

During the following days, Chiang’s government sent troops from mainland China to the island. The Chinese soldiers began capturing and executing leading Taiwanese lawyers, doctors, students and other citizens.

It is estimated that up to 18,000 people lost their lives during the turmoil. During the following four decades, the Chinese Nationalists continued to rule Taiwan under a martial law system that lasted until 1987.

The 2-28 event had far-reaching implications. Over the next half-century, the Taiwanese democracy movement that grew out of the incident helped pave the way for Taiwan’s momentous transformation from a dictatorship under the Chinese Nationalists to a thriving and pluralistic democracy.

In some ways, the 2-28 incident was similar to the “Boston Massacre” that occurred in the Massachusetts colony in 1770. Both events launched a movement to full democracy and helped galvanize a struggle for independence.

I urge other Members to join me in commemorating this important historical event.

Sincerely,

SCOTT GARRETT
Member of Congress