Taiwan To Commemorate Historical Sites of Injustice
New legislation proposed by Taiwan's Cabinet aims to better preserve a long list of sites of historical injustice. It's part of the government's campaign for transitional justice as the country reckons with its bloody past.
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00:00No one's sure exactly how many people were killed in Taiwan between February and May in
00:061947
00:07conservative estimates say
00:0918,000 but the true number could be much higher
00:13It all started here in this park in downtown Taipei
00:16When an anti-government uprising was ruthlessly stamped out by Chiang Kai-shek's nationalist government
00:22It remains one of the bloodiest and most defining moments in Taiwanese history
00:27Now renamed the 228 Peace Memorial Park to commemorate the date
00:31It all started this entire area serves as a reminder to Taiwan that the path to democracy was long and violent
00:40Now new legislation proposed by Taiwan's cabinet aims to preserve these so-called unjust sites
00:47What's up? Do you believe each other? Don't you?
00:49保存歷史記憶是瞭解真相促進和解
00:54實踐轉型正義的重要工程
00:57The new bill designates at least 42 such sites across Taiwan with dozens more up for consideration
01:04These areas would receive plaques like this one
01:07The proposals also promise hefty fines and even prison sentences if anyone attempts to damage them
01:14It's all part of a wider campaign by the current administration to pursue transitional justice
01:20Just last week the decades-old ceremonial changing of the guard at Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall was moved away from the former leader statue
01:29Demonstrating a recognition of the bloody place he holds in Taiwanese history
01:33If the law passes these sites of historical injustice will preserve memories of some of Taiwan's darkest days
01:41To help ensure that they don't come again
01:44Patrick Chen and Reese Ayres in Taipei for Taiwan Plus