Relative of 228 victim supports Ma

He further praised Ma’s sincerity in asking for forgiveness over the incident, and wished him a “smooth going election.”

“Ma Ying-jeou doesn’t have any problem with honesty,” said Shen Cheng-yan of the Taiwan 228 Movement Association.

The life-long activist noted that Ma has been participating in the annual memorial ceremony held for the victims of the Feb. 28 Incident since serving as mayor of Taipei City.

“Taiwan society should overcome the blue-green divide,” stressed Shen, who added that the public must elect a leader that truly loves Taiwan and will lead to a revival of the country’s economy.

“Green” represents the color of the DPP’s party flag, as opposed to “blue,” the color of the KMT’s party flag.

He then praised Ma for his assistance in drafting the statute for compensation of the Feb. 28 victims’ families and his efforts to clear the victims’ names.

Shen made the comments that morning at Taipei City’s 228 Memorial Park while accompanying Ma and other victims’ relatives during a Buddhist ceremony held by the KMT to mark the 61st anniversary of one of the most tragic episodes in Taiwan’s history.

On Feb. 28 1947, an elderly woman was brutally beaten by KMT troops for selling untaxed cigarettes and a bystander was shot, triggering riots islandwide.

In the weeks following the incident, the KMT sent troop reinforcements from the mainland, resulting in arrests and executions of thousands of people protesting the Chiang Kai-shek regime.

“In order to bring reconciliation after years of resentment, one must have a sincere and humble attitude regarding the Feb. 28 Incident,” said Ma.

He promised that if he were elected president, he would investigate the issue and bring an end to the past injustices.

He would also pushed for the construction of a Feb. 28 Memorial Hall and rectify the erroneous content of Taiwan school textbooks, he said.

According to Ma, the Feb. 28 Incident is the responsibility of the government. But because the KMT was in power in 1947, he stressed that the former ruling party must also bear responsibility for the massacres.

He repeatedly stressed, however, that the incident should not be categorized as a confrontation among communities formed by different waves of immigrants.

Meanwhile, another independence activist strongly condemned Ma’s attitude regarding Taiwan democracy and the independence movement, during a roundtable conference organized by the Memorial Foundation of 228.

“The KMT presidential candidate’s true colors are of a hypocrite,” said Reverend William Lo, secretary general of the Taiwan United Nations Alliance, a DPP-affiliated organization.

“If Ma truly supports Taiwan’s localization movement, he should support the U.N. referendum as well ... However, the KMT is now working hand in hand with communist China in oppressing Taiwan,” stressed Lo.

Chinese-language media indicated that one of the biggest problems for the Taiwan independence movement is the sustained popularity of Ma. The KMT won a stinging victory over the DPP in January’s legislative election.

“We never know what the future has prepared,” said Georg Gesk, assistant professor at the Department of Law of Hsuan Chuang University.

Gesk stressed that the Tokyo trials convened between 1946 and 1948 contributed to the acknowledgement of individual responsibility for war crimes of the Japanese during the Second World War.

“The Republic of China until 1950 had a face of a failure state,” he explained, suggesting that the judicial investigation and prosecution of the Feb. 28 Incident can be conducted in accordance to international law in order to overcome procedural obstacles.

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