2.28, as it is known, refers to the events in Taiwan in 1947, when the KMT regime that restored Taiwan after the war used public power inappropriately, causing death and injury to the people.
Seventy-four years later, on February 28, Burma’s “Blood Memorial Day” occurred, when the Burmese army cracked down on demonstrations around the country, killing 23 people. Hong Kong also staged the largest “White Terror of National Security” on this day, when 47 pro-democracy activists were arrested and prosecuted by the Hong Kong police for “conspiracy to subvert state power,” which aroused international concern.
Taiwan’s 2.28 and the continued promotion of transitional justice in recent years have led to the publication of a number of monographs on 2.28. Writer Yan Zeya recommended two books on her website on February 28, saying that she was very impressed after reading them. The two books are Chen Cui-lian’s “Reconstructing February 28” and Sima Xiaoqing’s “The Beginning of Evil”.
She said that today’s Taiwan scholars understand that 2.28 is “not just a case of the government forcing the people to rebel, or of local people beating and killing foreigners and then being massacred indiscriminately by Chiang’s soldiers; 2.28 also involved a large number of local people framing local people and foreigners fighting foreigners.”
One of her feelings is that “Taiwanese people in 1947 were really too innocent and did not understand the workings of Chinese politics. We must not make the same mistake again.”
Second, “It’s great that Taiwan and the U.S. have a good rapport, but we really should not rely too much on the security that the U.S. gives. After 2.28, the U.S. should have done justice for the Taiwanese morally and legally, but the U.S. chose not to. We need to remember this lesson from the past.”
Third, “Our opposition to reunification today is never just about opposing war or being ruled by the Chinese Communist Party, but also about opposing plunder and corruption.”
Fourthly, “Some of the most radical people in the province back then were simply informers of the intelligence unit, and their radical statements were deliberate. With this lesson from the past, I would advise the Taiwan faction not to believe foolishly when others speak very ‘independent’.”
The lesson for today’s unificationists is that “we must know that while “one country, two systems” may bring superficial peace, it will be the beginning of the Chinese Communist Party’s growing intelligence organization in Taiwan. This organization will not be like the White Terror you remember, which was just surveillance and reporting. Rather, it will deliberately incite trouble and then frame it, as it did on February 28th, in order to fabricate facts that outsiders are taking property from the locals. Whatever your unificationist-independence faction, you may be seen to be assassinated.”
Yan Zeya’s feelings and reminders after reading it also have meaning for the new “2.28” 74 years later.
“It is the same simplicity of Hong Kong people and Taiwanese people in 1947, and the lack of political understanding of China that is the crux of the problem. The peaceful protests of Martin Luther King, Gandhi, and Mandela were successful because their opponents were still civilized, brutal regimes that still had a moral bottom line. It is really Time to stop being so naive as to replace a regime that has been fighting for power for a century without a bottom line.
Taiwan has recently faced a military threat from the Chinese Communist Party, and the island has been estimating whether the Biden administration will protect Taiwan militarily. In his first public speech since leaving office, former U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor Matt Pottinger certainly emphasized that the United States should take substantive action to help avoid conflict in the Taiwan Strait, but also reminded the people of Taiwan that they “must understand the importance and danger of the situation, unite behind their leaders, and do a better job of preparing for war. In other words, not relying on the U.S. to step in and having the self-improvement spirit to prepare for war is the only way to get more help.
The significance of feelings 3, 4 and 5 is that, verbally speaking of “unification” and “independence”, or “patriotism” or even “love for the party” are all superficial. “The actual content is the “plunder and corruption” of outsiders. What is plundered is not only wealth, but more importantly, the power to dispose of it. Taiwan’s acceptance of “one country, two systems” or Hong Kong people’s expressions of patriotism will not lead to a reprieve, as long as they are seen to be backstabbed, the horror is even greater than Taiwan’s after 2.28. The future fate of the united faction or the patriotic left is a lesson from China’s 100-year history.
History always repeats itself, the temptation of power, money and sex, who can resist? “The bridge is not afraid of the old, the most important thing is to suffer”. As the German philosopher Hegel said, “The only lesson mankind has learned from history is that mankind has not learned any lessons from history.”
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