Original Speech by: Shi Yixiang, Secretary-General of the Taiwan Association for Human Rights
Translated by: Ashley Zheng, Intern
Edited by: Zoe Wang, Intern
As a human rights organization founded during a period of authoritarian martial law, the Taiwan Association of Human Rights, true to its roots, must stand up and confront the violence imposed by the Kuomintang regime in Taiwan. From the February 28th massacre to the period of White Terror that followed, state actions frequently violated principles of freedom and democracy guaranteed in our constitution in a long and seemingly endless series of pressing human rights violations. TAHR was established with a clear mission: “All human beings, no matter where they were born or what environment they grew up in, deserve dignity, freedom, and the right to live equally”. TAHR must make every effort to defend human rights and take action against oppression from the state.
In that era of authoritarianism, state violence seemed inevitable, but was actually full of weaknesses since a national government that violates human rights is the furthest from a legitimate regime. A government that treats human life as worthless and tramples over constitutional and democratic procedures can only disguise its ugly facade with blood-stained lies. Such is the nature of the Chiang family regime and the Kuomintang government, the instigators of the 228 massacre. This is why the family members of those affected by the February 28th incident recently refused to share a stage with Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安), Sandy Yu (游毓蘭), Chin Hui-chu (秦慧珠) and other Kuomintang members who were advocating for a conservative and reactionary argument in the process of transitional justice: to forget the past, to look forward as a society, and to shamelessly demand victims to reconcile with the very group that committed state violence. This is why Taiwan at this moment, in 2023, must take to the streets on 228 and refuse to forget, because this oppressive regime has not abandoned its roots as a violent regime built upon the blood of countless and is also moving closer towards the Chinese regime, one that grossly violates human rights, represses Tibet, Hong Kong, and commits genocide against Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
Taiwan has finally entered a stage of transformative justice following the Act on Promoting Transitional Justice (促進轉型正義條例), measures from the previous Transitional Justice Commission (促轉會), and various institutional revisions underway after the dissolution of the Executive Yuan's Transition Justice Association (轉型正義會報). However, Taiwanese people still have to live with the traces of an authoritarian environment, and internal and external anti-democratic, anti-human rights, and anti-liberal political parties and countries, which continue to be a cause of concern today.
On February 4, 1987, the eve of Taiwan's lifting of martial law, TAHR president Dr. Chen Yung-hsing (陳永興), lawyer Li Shengxiong (李勝雄), and Nylon Cheng (鄭南榕), the founder of the Free Times Weekly, launched the "228 40th Anniversary Peace Memorial Movement", which called for the people to take to the streets in demand of the disclosure of truth behind the 228 Incident, and for the current government to take accountability for historical actions.
29 years later, the chairman of Tsai Jui-Yueh Dance Club Xiao Woting (蕭渥廷), the pastor of the Presbyterian Church Lin Weilian (林偉聯), and Tsinghua Cheng (鄭清華) of the Cheng Nanrong Foundation, launched the 228.0 commemorative event for the first time in 2016 in the spirit of their predecessors. Inheriting the mission of the 1987 228 Justice and Peace Day Movement, the event encourages the people of Taiwan to remember and step out against injustice: to not be blindfolded by a false authoritarian legacy and ignorant of the injustices of history until they realize justice and achieve social peace.
The 228 Commemoration Event holds important historical significance, especially considering the internal and external tensions faced by Taiwan currently. In the battle between freedom and autocracy, democracy and authoritarianism, the people of Taiwan have shed sweat and blood for more than 70 years to achieve the freedom and democracy of today.
The confrontation between Taiwan and China, between totalitarianism and democracy, is festering from within. We must be wary of the beneficiaries of authoritarianism. Asking us to forget the past in order to move towards the future only serves as another way to deprive the Taiwanese people of their right to interpret history—another 228. Thus, we must recognize that reconciliation with the effects of the 228 Massacre requires a thorough sense of justice, clear legal transformation, conviction of the perpetrators, removal of all signs of authoritarianism, and comfort for victims, all necessary for healing the scars of Taiwan’s history. If not, we will keep fighting every year until justice and peace prevails.
