Taiwan history/February 28 incident
The local population initially welcomed the ROC forces as liberators, but public sentiment quickly soured due to hyperinflation, high unemployment, systemic corruption, and the seizure of local industries through state-run monopolies. In the end, an anti-government uprising in Taiwan that began on February 28, 1947, and was violently suppressed by the Kuomintang (KMT)-led Nationalist government of the Republic of China (ROC).
Key events
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On February 27, 1947, Taipei, agents from the state Tobacco Monopoly Bureau violently assaulted Lin Jiang-mai, a widowed Taiwanese mother selling contraband cigarettes, and shot a protesting bystander dead. One day after, angry crowds marched on the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau and the Taiwan Provincial Executive Office to demand justice. Security forces opened fire with machine guns on the unarmed protestors, killing several dozen people. The incident triggered a spontaneous, island-wide revolt. Local citizens seized control of municipal administrations and radio stations, forming the February 28 Incident Settlement Committee to demand democratic reforms and autonomy from provincial governor Chen Yi. On March 8, 1947, heavily armed ROC troops arrived at ports in Keelung and Kaohsiung. They executed a ruthless, island-wide sweeping operation, systematically targeting and executing lawyers, doctors, professors, students, and journalists to wipe out the local leadership class. The massacre served as the gateway to the official declaration of Martial Law in 1949, initiating the White Terror period that lasted until 1987, during which political dissent was entirely silenced.
Transitional Justice
[edit | edit source]In 1996, President Lee Teng-hui issued the first official government apology to the families of the victims. February 28 is now observed as a national holiday (228 Peace Memorial Day) dedicated to remembrance, healing, and national reconciliation.