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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

China’s authoritarian expansionism would not stop with Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, calling for solidarity among the world’s democracies to check Beijing’s territorial ambitions.

Taiwan is determined to become a decisive force for democracy, peace and prosperity, standing side-by-side with its democratic partners to confront authoritarian expansionism and protect shared values, he told the annual Ketagalan Forum on Indo-Pacific security in Taipei.

Authoritarianism is now a global challenge, Lai said, using as examples Chinese military expansionism, economic coercion and the use of hybrid warfare tactics such as cyberattacks and cognitive warfare.