Taiwan marked the 59th anniversary of a 1947 massacre recently blamed on late Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek with a march and other activities yesterday.
Several hundred relatives of those killed took part in a march in Taipei organised by the pro-independence Hand-in-Hand To Save Taiwan Alliance. The crowd was far short of the 10,000 expected by the organiser, due mainly to cold weather and pouring rain.
'Ma Ying-jeou, apologise,' shouted the relatives, referring to the current KMT chairman and each holding a white flower, as they marched to the 228 Memorial Park, named after the massacre known as the '228 Incident'.
Tens of thousands of people, including native Taiwanese and some mainland Chinese immigrants, were killed when KMT troops were ordered to suppress an uprising on February 28, 1947, just two years before the KMT government fled to the island.
Chiang Kai-shek's grandson, KMT legislator John Chiang Hsiao-yen, said yesterday he found it unacceptable that independence-leaning scholars could hold his grandfather, who died in 1975, responsible for the incident based on subjective assumptions.
'In its former rule of Taiwan, the KMT of course should be responsible for the long period of pain and suffering. I feel uncomfortable about this too, but I hope we all can learn to use love and forgiveness to mend the historic wounds,' he said during a KMT activity to commemorate the event.
