Brian Hioeby Brian Hioe
語言:
English
Photo Credit: Gongsheng Music Festival/Facebook
YESTERDAY MARKED the 79th anniversary of the 228 Massacre. often seen as the start of Taiwan’s White Terror. Yet close to eighty years later, one notes that Taiwan has in many ways failed to heed the lessons of 228—this in spite of Taiwan’s democratization.
For one, there are those who denigrate the crimes of the past. The recent controversy over the movie Murder of the Century is an illustrative example. The film used the real-life incident of the Lin family murders as material for a plot that ultimately seemed to side with the authoritarian regime of the KMT, with reports that the killings were blamed in the movie on a Su Beng-like figure, Su Beng being a key figure in the Taiwanese independence movement, while Lin, a DPP chair, was a pro-democracy activist. Yet in all probability, they were committed by KMT state security forces—particularly as Lin was then under 24/7 surveillance—and at the time, the KMT sought to pin the murders on pro-democracy figures.
Murder of the Century was reportedly shot without first asking the Lin family for permission, in spite of the fact that members of the Lin family are still alive. That actors seemed unaware of the murders points to the poor state of public awareness of the White Terror. But one notes that it is far from the only film in recent years to depict the crimes of the authoritarian era as necessary. Chung Mung-hong’s The Embers was similar in depicting the relatives of victims of the authoritarian era carrying out revenge on those who committed crimes during the period, and also suggesting that such crimes were necessary to maintain social order.
In the wake of the controversy over Murder of the Century, the government declassified remaining files pertaining to the White Terror. Nevertheless, records pertaining to the Lin family massacre seem to have been destroyed.
This is not to say that cinematic depictions of the White Terror are not well-received in Taiwan. A Foggy Tale recently won accolades for its humanistic depiction of White Terror victims. The video game, television, and movie franchise Detention, too, has been well-received critically for its use of contemporary horror aesthetics to engage with how the history of the White Terror is still unresolved.
In the meantime, one notes that the 228 Massacre is primarily commemorated by the pan-Green camp. The KMT, as the party that carried the White Terror, officially apologizes and usually holds memorial ceremonies during 228, but has, in actuality, proved recalcitrant, refusing to open the party archives regarding the White Terror.
This year, KMT chair Cheng Li-wun touted the uprisings that occurred against the government during 228 as the start of Taiwan’s democratization. While not wrong, such comments are unusual for Cheng—Cheng, after all, plans to meet in the near future with Chinese president Xi Jinping, an unelected autocrat whose ambitions to annex Taiwan could prove the end of Taiwan’s democracy. And it was the KMT, after all, that such uprisings were directed against. In her comments, Cheng also lashed out at the DPP.
This points to another aspect of 228 commemorations, then. Namely, the KMT remains an active political force in Taiwan, and it continues to be a threat to Taiwan’s contemporary democracy because of its desire to achieve the political unification of Taiwan and China at all costs, even if it means the sacrifice of Taiwan’s contemporary democracy. As such, those who commemorate the 228 Massacre often are those who lean toward maintaining Taiwan’s de facto political freedom or achieving Taiwanese independence.
In this sense, 228 commemorations serve as a frame to criticize the KMT’s pro-unification ambitions. The 228 Massacre is seen as a harbinger of what last occurred when a political force from China assumed control of Taiwan and what would likely again occur if the CCP took control of Taiwan.
And yet 228 commemorations reflect the various dimensions of Taiwan’s contemporary democracy. The largest 228 commemoration annually in Taiwan is the Gongsheng Music Festival, which takes the form of an indie rock concert and began in the years before the 2014 Sunflower Movement. Since Indigenous protests calling for the return of traditional territories began shortly after Tsai Ing-wen’s inauguration in 2016, Indigenous ceremonies have been held prominently as part of its proceedings. And with Hongkongers arriving in Taiwan in the aftermath of the 2019 protests, the Gongsheng Music Festival, too, has centered their struggles. In this way, such commemorations reflect and celebrate the pluralistic nature of contemporary Taiwanese society, while rejecting the China-centered authoritarian nostalgia of the KMT.