TAIWAN President Lee Teng-hui yesterday offered an official apology for the Government's role in the February 28 incident of 1947, in which thousands were killed by Kuomintang (KMT) soldiers suppressing a spontaneous uprising.
The Republic of China Government was then ruled by the late strongman Chiang Kai-shek. He sent troops from the mainland to suppress the revolt which followed rampant carpetbagging and inflation under KMT Governor Chen Yi, who was appointed after Nanjing recovered the island in October 1945 after 50 years of Japanese colonial rule.
Speaking at the dedication of an official memorial to the incident in Taipei's New Park yesterday morning, Mr Lee said he had experienced the incident and felt 'extreme sorrow over this historical tragedy'.
He said the memorial symbolised 'historical justice and ethnic harmony'.
The President said bereaved relatives and descendants of the victims 'can today hear me as head-of-state assume responsibility for the errors made by the Government and express the deepest and most sincere apology'.
Mr Lee said the memorial displays 'our sincerity in facing up to history and our courage, confidence to walk together out of the shadows of the past into a bright future.' Mr Lin Tsung-yi, a representative of '2-28' victims, told those assembled for the dedication that Mr Lee's apology 'is a gift for which our families have been waiting for 48 years'.
