On February 28, 1947, about two thousand people gathered in front of the Bureau of Monoply in Taipei to protest the brutal beating on a woman cigarette peddler and the killing of a bystander by the police on the previous evening. The Chinese Governor, Chen Yi responded with machine guns, killing several people on the spot. Uprisings errupted. What ensued were a series of massacres on the island by the troops sent from China by Chiang Kai-Shek resulting in the deaths of more than 30,000 Taiwanese people, followed by an era of white terror (arrests and mysterious disapprances of countless additional people) by the military police for decades....

Fifty years later today, Taiwan has evolved into a democratic country, thanks to those brave people who sacrificed their lives, blood and freedom to continue their relentless fight for democracy and human rights. Taiwanese people will forgive but will never forget such a trageic page of Taiwan's history. In reconciliation with this painful past, they want to commemorate February 28 as the day of peace. May peace prevail on the island and earth...

The Incident, the Taiwanese Holocaust

• As Reported in Newsweek
• As Reported in New York Times
• As Reported in the Nation
• As Described in the Memorandum to Chiang Kai-Shek by Embassador Stuart
• As seen by a US diplomat, George Kerr