President Tsai Ing-wen vowed to continue pushing for transitional justice and human rights education. Tsai was speaking Friday at a ceremony marking the 73rd anniversary of the 228 Incident.
The 228 Incident refers to a violent suppression which took place on February 28, 1947. On that day, Taiwan’s military forcefully put down an uprising against the Kuomintang-led government. The final death count of the 228 Incident is unknown, however, scholars estimate anywhere between 10,000 to 30,000 people died as a result of the violent suppression.
Tsai says the purpose of the Transitional Justice Commission, which was established in May 2018, is to investigate the actions taken by the authoritarian KMT government between August 1945 and November 1992.
Tsai said that declassified files from that era have been transferred to the National Archives Administration. The documents will be available to the public with “maximum transparency and minimal restrictions.” Tsai also instructed the National Security Bureau to declassify political archives within a month.
Tsai said the government must not repeat the grave mistakes of the past.