[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 34 (Thursday, February 26, 2009)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E489]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                COMMEMORATION OF TAIWAN'S 2-28 MASSACRE

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                           HON. SCOTT GARRETT

                             of new jersey

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 26, 2009

  Mr. GARRETT of New Jersey. Madam Speaker, I rise today to recognize 
the 62nd commemoration of Taiwan's ``2-28 Massacre.''
  On February 28, 1947, the brutal arrest of a female civilian in 
Taipei led to large-scale protests by the native Taiwanese against the 
repression of Chiang Kai-shek's Chinese Nationalists, who occupied 
Taiwan on behalf of the Allied Forces after Japan's defeat in 1945.
  During the following days, Chiang's government sent troops from 
mainland China to the island. The Chinese soldiers began capturing and 
executing leading Taiwanese lawyers, doctors, students, and other 
citizens.
  It is estimated that at least 18,000 people lost their lives during 
the turmoil. During the following four decades, the Chinese 
Nationalists continued to rule Taiwan under a martial law system that 
lasted until 1987.
  The 2-28 event had far-reaching implications. Over the next half-
century, the Taiwanese democracy movement that grew out of the incident 
helped pave the way for Taiwan's momentous transformation from a 
dictatorship under the Chinese Nationalists to a thriving and 
pluralistic democracy.
  In some ways, the 2-28 incident was similar to the ``Boston 
Massacre'' that occurred in the Massachusetts colony in 1770. Both 
events launched a movement toward full democracy and helped galvanize a 
struggle for independence.
  I urge other Members to join me in commemorating this important 
historical event.

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