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ABSTRACT
This article reexamines the turning point from “confrontation” to “reconciliation” in the rehabilitation movement over the 2.28 Incident which began in the late 1980s, with a special focus on the role and accomplishments of Christians without any party affiliation.
The initial action to accuse the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and launch a redress campaign against the KMT government was driven by an anti-government movement. Following the establishment of the 228 Peace Day Association in 1987, the “2.28 Justice and Peace Movement” was carried out from 1989.
However, the “2.28 Shalom Service” initiated by Su Nan-chou in 1990 opened the initial gate toward reconciliation. The first victims’ family association, the World Alliance for Concerned Citizens and Surviving Victims and Families, was set up by Su together with Lin Tsung-yi. Both played a significant role in transforming the rehabilitation movement from “confrontation” to “reconciliation.”
Lastly, Lin’s five requests to President Lee Teng-hui (1. Publish an investigation report, 2. Issue a public apology and compensate families of victims, 3. Build a memorial monument and museum, 4. Establish February 28th as a national memorial day, 5. Establish a foundation) were achieved in the form of government-private sector joint task forces until 1997. As “practical idealists,” Lin and Su devoted their efforts to achieve maximum results. What they chose was dialogue, not confrontation, and they transformed the rehabilitation movement from “confrontation to reconciliation,” from their standpoint of being practical idealists.
Acknowledgements
This work was made possible thanks to an interview with Mr. Su Nan-chou on November 22nd, 2019, and I am indebted to Professor Hsueh Hua-yuan for introducing me to Mr. Su. For more details on the essential differences between the “Pingfan” and “Ping’an” movements, philosophy and strategies of Su and Lin, please refer to my other article in Japanese. Lastly, I would like to express my deepest condolences to the Su family.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
1. See, Chuang, “Zhanglao Jiaohui Yu Er’erba Pingfan Yundong (1987–1990),”
2. Hsueh, “Ni’nihachi Jiken Wo Meguru ‘Seigi To Wakai No Tsuikyu’,” 391–392.
3. During postwar KMT rule, political power was unequally distributed between local Taiwanese and Mainlanders. Although local Taiwanese represent the biggest population group on the Island, minority Mainlander elites held an overwhelming position in the central government and mainstream politics due to their Mandarin language fluency and political allegiance to the KMT.
4. Anti-KMT political activists were called “dangwai,” meaning “outside of KMT = non-KMT.”
5. See, Taiwansheng Xingzheng Zhangguan Gongshu, Taiwansheng Er’erba Baodao Shijian Jiyao.
6. See, Zhu ed., Dangdai Taiwan Zhengzhi Yanjiu.
7. The Chung-li Incident was a mass riot against electoral fraud in Chung-li City, Taoyuan County, in November of 1977. The Meilidao Incident (also called the Kaohsiung Incident) was a conflict in Kaohsiung City between non-KMT (dangwai) opposition groups and armed police on World Human Rights Day on December 10th, 1979. It was illegal to hold a mass rally under the martial law, but those gathering at Meilidao magazine’s office to organize an opposition party took actions to call for freedom and civil rights. As a result, they were violently suppressed by armed police.
8. Wakabayashi, Taiwan No Seiji, 52–53, 148–162.
9. See, Wu, Lin and Hsieh, “Jiance Zhuiqiu Zhengyi Juexin,”
10. Taiwan Gonglunbao [Taiwan Tribune], No. 0, July 24 1981, 1.
11. Editorial “Taiwanese People’s Heart Seeking for Self-determination,” Taiwan Gonglunbao [Taiwan Tribune], No. 14, September 22 1981, 12.
12. Wakabayashi, Taiwan No Seiji, 199–202.
13. Ho, Taiwan Gendaishi, 217.
14. Su, “Er’erba Gongyi Heping Fendoushi Gaishu,” 82.
15. Chang, “Er’erba Pingfan Yundong Yu Qi Lishi Yiyi,” 3–4.
16. Er’erba Hepingri Cujinhui ed., Zouchu Er’erbade Yinying, 22–29.
17. Chang, “Er’erba Pingfan Yundong Yu Qi Lishi Yiyi,” 23–24.
18. Ibid, 26.
19. Ibid, 78.
20. Chang, “Er’erba Pingfan Yundong Yu Qi Lishi Yiyi,” 72.
21. Er’erba Hepingri Cujinhui ed., Zouchu Er’erbade Yinying, 26.
22. Chang, “Er’erba Pingfan Yundong Yu Qi Lishi Yiyi,” 4–5.
23. Er’erba Hepingri Cujinhui ed., Zouchu Er’erbade Yinying, 26, 44.
24. Ibid, 52, 54.
25. Ibid, 2–7.
26. Ibid, 40.
27. Ibid, 61–62.
28. Hsueh, “Ni’nihachi Jiken Wo Meguru Rekishi Seisan Mondai,” 164–165.
29. Wakabayashi, Taiwan No Seiji, 197–198.
30. Er’erba Hepingri Cujinhui ed., Zouchu Er’erbade Yinying, 87, 96–98.
31. Ibid, 70, 86–88.
32. However, Legislator Wu Chun-ching claimed “freedom of standing or not standing,” and became the only legislator who did not stand and make a silent prayer. Zhongyang Ribao [Central Daily News], February 28 1990, 2.
33. Er’erba Hepingri Cujinhui ed., Zouchu Er’erbade Yinying, 105–106.
34. Chang, “Er’erba Pingfan Yundong Yu Qi Lishi Yiyi,” 5–6.
35. Sugano, “‘Genjitsuteki Riso’shugisha’ To Ni’nihachi Jiken Wo Meguru Wakai No Kokoromi,” 223.
36. Chiu, ed. Er’erba Pingfan Yu Zhuanxing Zhengyi, 81–82.
37. See, Su, and others, Ping’an, Er’erba.
38. Kuo, “The Implementation of Catholic Social Teaching in Taiwan,” 163–164.
39. Su, and others, Ping’an, Er’erba, 55.
40. Su, Xing Gongyi, Haolianmin, 238–242.
41. Ibid.
42. With Chen Yong-hsin attending the Shalom Service as a guest, the PDA concluded its official record of the four years of the “2.28 Justice and Peace Movement” with prayers offered by Reverend Kao Chun-ming. Sugano, “‘Genjitsuteki Riso’shugisha’ To Ni’nihachi Jiken Wo Meguru Wakai No Kokoromi,” 226.
43. Zhongyang Ribao [Central Daily News], January 19 1991, 11.
44. After Lin Tsung-yi passed away in 2010, Su Nan-chou became the only person who can testify about the entire negotiation process with the KMT over the 2.28 Incident. See, Sugano, “‘Genjitsuteki Riso’shugisha’ To Ni’nihachi Jiken Wo Meguru Wakai No Kokoromi,” 223.
45. Su, “Er’erba Gongyi Heping Fendoushi Gaishu,” 91–98.
46. Er’erba Hepingri Cujinhui ed., Zouchu Er’erbade Yinying, 98–100.
47. Su, “Er’erba Gongyi Heping Fendoushi Gaishu,” 103.
48. Su, and others, Ping’an, Er’erba. 221.
49. Er’erba Hepingri Cujinhui ed., Zouchu Er’erbade Yinying, 56–60.
50. Lee, Taiwan No Shucho, 33, 48.
51. Zhongyang Ribao [Central Daily News], February 25 1994, 4.
52. Wakabayashi, Taiwan No Seiji, 315.
53. Chang, “Er’erba Pingfan Yundong Yu Qi Lishi Yiyi,” 8.
54. Sugano, “‘Genjitsuteki Riso’shugisha’ To Ni’nihachi Jiken Wo Meguru Wakai No Kokoromi,” 205, 223. For the full text in Chinese, see, Su, and others, Ping’an, Er’erba, 200–202.
55. Breakdown of the 2,288 cases of certified victims: 684 cases of death, 178 cases of missing persons, 1,426 other cases such as confinement, bodily injury and reputational damage. See, Hsueh, “Ni’nihachi Jiken Wo Meguru Rekishi Seisan Mondai,” 171–172.
56. See above 48. 64.
57. Lianhebao [United Daily News], February 12 1995, 4.
58. See above 48. 66.
59. In addition, Chiayi City 228 Memorial Museum was inaugurated in 1996. Memorial monuments in Taiwan number more than 20 as of 2017. See, Chiu, Er’erba Pingfan Yu Zhuanxing Zhengyi, 134–149.
60. Hsueh, “Ni’nihachi Jiken Wo Meguru Rekishi Seisan Mondai,” 171.
61. See, Koh, Giseisha No Politikusu: Saishu Yon-san/ Okinawa Sen/ Taiwan Ni-ni’hachi, Rekishi Seisan Wo Meguru Kunoh.
62. Lin, “Kanzheng Yihuo Fuhe?” 114–149. Sugano, “‘Genjitsuteki Riso’shugisha’ To Ni’nihachi Jiken Wo Meguru Wakai No Kokoromi,” 220–221.
63. Su, Xing Gongyi, Haolianmin, 179.
64. Sugano, “‘Genjitsuteki Riso’shugisha’ To Ni’nihachi Jiken Wo Meguru Wakai No Kokoromi,” 218.
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Atsushi Sugano
Atsushi Sugano is a Professor at the Faculty of International Studies, Kyoritsu Women’s University, Tokyo, Japan. He was Vice-President of the Japan Society for Intercultural Studies (2019-2022). His area of research is the Contemporary History of Taiwan. In addition to published research papers, he has authored several books, including Taiwan no Kokka to Bunka [The Nation and Culture of Taiwan] (Tokyo: Keiso Shobo, 2011) and Taiwan no Gengo to Moji [The Language and Characters of Taiwan] (Tokyo: Keiso Shobo, 2012). He was awarded the Azusa Ono Memorial Award by Waseda University in 2002, the 3rd Award by the Japan Association for Taiwan Studies in 2005, and the 33rd Award for the Promotion of Studies on Developing Countries by JETRO-IDE in 2012. He received his PhD at the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific (GSAPS), Waseda University, in 2007, and MA in 2001. He received his BA from Sophia University in 1998.