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Home Editorials of Interest Jerome F. Keating's writings Taiwan Commemorates 2-28 When the KMT Began to Seriously Enforce its One-Party State

Taiwan Commemorates 2-28 When the KMT Began to Seriously Enforce its One-Party State

When WWII ended, Taiwan began to be denuded of everything from rice to steel to anything that could be used in the KMT's losing effort in China. But Taiwan's troubles are clearly marked by 2-28, er-er-ba, when the seething mistreatment boiled over with the striking of a street vendor selling contraband cigarettes and the shooting of an innocent protester. This brought about the upcoming Martial Law and White Terror in which over 30 thousand Taiwanese were killed and/or disappeared and thousands more would be imprisoned.

Under the hypocritical guise of being pro-democracy the KMT subsequently began its one party state that would last for near a half a century. The irony is that Nazi Germany and militaristic Japan were able to achieve democracy within a decade and with no persecution or jailing of individuals in contrast to the allegedly free Taiwan.

Even now, families of those who suffered are finally being allowed to access the files and find out what happened to many of their lost family members. But the current KMT government is charging them hundreds of US dollars just to get their files. Transitional justice has still not been served.


Source: Jerome F. Keating's writings



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Newsflash


Former vice president Annette Lu, right, talks with new Democratic Progressive Party Greater Kaohsiung Council Speaker Kang Yu-cheng yesterday.
Photo: CNA

The medical team formed to assess jailed former president Chen Shui-bian’s (陳水扁) health scheduled a third round of re-evaluation of Chen’s condition for Monday after visiting Chen yesterday without concluding a report for the Ministry of Justice’s Agency of Correction.

Chen, on charges of corruption, has been imprisoned since late 2008 and his health is steadily worsening.