The 228 Incident, also known as the 228 Massacre, was an anti-government riot in Taiwan which was suppressed by the Kuomintang beginning on February 28, 1947. The incident began when a police officer hit an elderly woman after she refused to turn over black market cigarettes. What was at first an angry mob continued to expand until a large scale uprising was underway. When the rebellion was finally put down, a period of purges and harsh one-party rule, known as the "White Terror" began.
228 Incident News and Information
- Wikipedia: 228 Incident
- Google News: 228 Incident
- The Point: " 228 Commemorative Events Scheduled in Taipei City" (February 26, 2008)
- Taipei Times: "Forum Discusses 228 Historical Accounts" (February 24, 2008)
- "Many important issues of the incident have been overlooked until now and we were unable to examine [discrepancies in] official statements on the event without the viewpoints of foreigners."
- China Post: "Relative of 228 Victim Supports Ma" (February 25, 2008)
- China Post: "Ma: 228 Not About Ethnic Confrontation" (February 18, 2008)
- "The side effect is to defuse the alleged continuing manipulation and exploitation of the tragedy by other parties and candidates to monopolize the issue in a bid to win more ballots in every major elections, according to the analysts."
- BBC News: "Anniversary of Deadly Taiwan Riot" (February 27, 2007)
- Worldpress: Taiwan Remembers Feb. 28 Incident (March 1, 2006)
References
Fast Facts
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Fact:
Incident began on February 28, 1947
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Fact:
Led to a nation-wide rebel uprising
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Fact:
The Republic of China had been given control of Taiwan in 1945
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Fact:
Dissatisfaction with the KMT had become wide-spread
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Fact:
Event began when a vendor refused to turn over black market cigarettes to an official
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Fact:
When the official hit the old woman, a mob formed, which turned into a riot
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Fact:
A rebellion lasted several days before it was brutally suppressed
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Marked the beginning of the [http
//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Terror "White Terror"]
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Fact:
Records of the incident were repressed and mention of it was removed from history books
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Fact:
In 1995, Lee Tung-hui became the first to officially mention the incident
