Event Description:
The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) is pleased to invite you to a seminar discussion titled “The 228 Incident and Transitional Justice.” This event is presented in partnership with the Memorial Foundation of 228.
With the liberal international order facing unprecedented difficulties, the international community is paying increasingly close attention to the authoritarian coercive pressure directed against Taiwan. While military, diplomatic, and economic power will be key in addressing the complex issues connected to Taiwan’s security, Taiwan’s soft power capabilities will also play a critical role in determining the island’s future course.
The values of freedom, democracy, and human rights are crucial for enhancing Taiwan’s soft power. In order to most effectively demonstrate these values abroad, however, Taiwan must first reckon with the authoritarian legacies of its own past. Transitional justice research not only allows for the re¬examination of historical events, but it also increases the awareness among people across the globe, so that they may learn from the lessons of history and work together to defend these important values.
This seminar will focus on the 228 Incident, a significant event in Taiwanese history that serves as an important entry-point to understanding transitional justice in Taiwan. The speakers will also discuss their new book, The Tragedy of 228: Historical Truth and Transitional Justice in Taiwan:
Publisher／出版單位：Memorial Foundation of 228
Editor in-Chief／主編：Hsueh Hua-Yuan, Chen Yi-Shen
Editor／總策畫：Yang Chen-Long
Authors／作者： Chen Yi-Shen, Shiu Wen-Tang, Su Yao-Tsung, Ho I-Lin, Ou Su-Ying, Lin Cheng-Hui, Hsueh Hua-Yuan, Wu Chun-Ying.
Translator／譯者：Shih Fang-Long, Jamie Borwn
Reviewer／潤稿者： Bo Tedards
Publication Date／出版日期：2022-08
Cover Photo: 力軍／黃榮燦, 恐ろしい検査－台湾二・二八事件
Source/ 作品出處：The Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura & Hayama
About the Work:
The book, entitled The Tragedy of 228: Historical Truth and Transitional Justice in Taiwan, published by Memorial Foundation of 228, is following A Tragic Beginning: The Taiwan Uprising of February 28, 1947, which was the first academic book on the 228 Incident written in English published over 30 years ago (1991, Bibliothek).
The book mainly explores eight different aspects of the 228 Incident, as shown in its eight chapter titles content:
- “What Caused the Incident: A Comparison of Government and Citizen Accounts from 1947“
- “International Perspectives on the Legal Status of Taiwan during and after the Incident, ”
- “Military Deployment and Suppression during the Incident, ”
- “Taiwan’s News Media under the Impact of the Incident, ”
- “The Roles of Local Government Heads during the Incident, ”
- “The Roles of Intelligence Agencies during the Incident, ”
- “Historical Explorations of the Campaign to Redress Injustices of the Incident (1987-1997)
- “Presidential Attitudes towards the Movement for Transitional Justice (1988-2019).”
Through the publication of the book, the Memorial Foundation of 228 attempts to set a new mile-stone in the study of 228 Incident by pursuing the transitional justice in international academic communities, as well as introducing and promoting Modern Taiwanese History to the world by featuring its unique social culture, geographical surroundings, and political transformations.
The Tragedy of 228: Historical Truth and Transitional Justice in Taiwan除導論章之外，共有八章，內容涵蓋二二八事件的原因論述、國際社會在事件前後對於台灣地位的認識、縣市首長與情治單位在事件中的角色、事件中的軍事部署與鎮壓、事件對於台灣新聞媒體造成的衝擊、平反運動的歷史考察以及歷任總統對於轉型正義的作為等面向。
二二八事件不僅是臺灣戰後初期重要的人權事件，也是同時期國際性的重要人權事件，應由東亞史、甚至世界史的脈絡來思考與檢視，才能彰顯其意義。做為第一本由財團法人二二八事件紀念基金會策劃，並由台灣本土學者戮力完成之二二八事件英文學術專書，本書不僅代表二二八研究走向國際的新里程碑，也是臺灣與其他國家一同針對人權與轉型正義的問題進行學術交流與相互切磋之重要媒介。
The event will be preceded by opening remarks from Memorial Foundation of 228 Chairman Hsueh Hua-yuan.
Panelists will include:
- Shiu Wen-Tang (Memorial Foundation of 228),
- Chen Chia-hao (Memorial Foundation of 228), and
- Michael Fonte (Democratic Progressive Party Mission to the United States).
The event will be moderated by GTI Program Manager Marshall Reid.
Please direct questions or concerns to Program Manager Marshall Reid at mreid@globaltaiwan.org.
The Speakers:
Dr. Shiu Wen-Tang is the director of the Memorial Foundation of 228 in Taiwan. He is also an associate research fellow at the Institute of Modern History at Academia Sinica. He earned his PhD from the University of Paris-Diderot.
Dr Chen Chia-hao is an associate research fellow at the Memorial Foundation of 228, Taiwan. He is also an adjunct assistant professor at the Graduate Institute of Taiwan History at National Chengchi University. He earned his PhD from the Graduate Institute of Taiwan History at National Chengchi University.
Michael J. Fonte is the director of the Democratic Progressive Party Mission in the United States, where he facilitates engagement between Taiwan’s DPP and policymakers in Washington. His connection to Taiwan goes back to 1967-70, when he served as a Catholic missionary working in central Taiwan. Before joining the DPP Mission as liaison in 2002, he was senior policy analyst at the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA). At FAPA, he was responsible for tracking US policy toward Taiwan, Taiwan security issues, and developments in Taiwanese political affairs, as well as producing opinion pieces, journal articles, and a member newsletter on these questions. He also lobbied the US Senate on Taiwan-related concerns. From 1993-1999, Fonte served as executive director of the Council for a Livable World Education Fund, and before that as foreign policy analyst and consultant for various international groups and clients. With a M.Th. in theology from the Maryknoll Seminary and an MA in Chinese Studies from the University of Michigan, Fonte’s resume includes time as both an educator and journalist.
The Moderator:
Marshall Reid is the program manager at GTI, as well as the host of GTI’s podcast, GTI Insights. He is also a Pacific Forum Young Leader. Previously, he worked as a program assistant with the Asia Program at the German Marshall Fund of the United States, where he helped to organize several international forums focused on East and South Asian affairs. He has also worked as an office assistant at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. Prior to moving to Washington, DC, he served as an english instructor in Taipei, Taiwan. He received his MA in international affairs at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and his BA in history and international relations from Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.