Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

A statue of Chiang Kai-shek at Fu Jen Catholic University in New Taipei City is decorated yesterday with a hemp mourning garment and signs demanding that the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) apologize for its crimes in connection with the 228 Incident.
Screen grab from Internet

With the 68th anniversary of the 228 Incident approaching, President Ma Ying-jeou’s (馬英九) administration has come under fire from Academia Sinica modern history researcher Chen Yi-shen (陳儀深), who said the administration is misrepresenting history and mitigating the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) responsibility for the 228 Incident.

The very nature of the 228 Incident, a historical tragedy that is the by-product of a clash of different ethnicities, is that it was a massacre of civilians by the KMT government, Chen said.

In 2000, Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), a member of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), was elected president. Before that, Lee Teng-hui (李登輝), a Taiwanese and a member of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), pushed through a quiet revolution during his 12 years as president.In Taiwan’s history of political changes, revolution has been praised for not being bloody. While this is a good thing, there is also a fragile side to it.