70 years on, Taiwan’s crushed uprising still echoes in Beijing and Taipei
Mainland China marks ‘228 Incident’ as part of bigger push to underscore one-China policy
It may be seven decades since the massacre of thousands of Taiwanese by China’s then Kuomintang government but the event is still causing political waves.
Taiwan and the mainland are both holding a series of high-profile activities to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the “228 Incident” in which KMT leader Chiang Kai-shek sent in troops to suppress an uprising on the island on February 28, ushering in the “White Terror” period.
Beijing has marked the event before but this is the first time it has explicitly sought to present its interpretation of the incident.
Analysts say this move dovetails with a wider push by Beijing to shore up the one-China policy.
At least 28,000 people, most of them born on the island, were killed during the suppression of the riots.
The violence erupted two years before KMT forces were defeated by the communists and fled the mainland to set up an interim government in Taiwan.