Procession Held to Mark 228 Incident 二二八76週年 民團遊行行經相關地點紀念

The Tsai Jui-yueh Dance Research Institute and the Nylon Cheng Liberty Foundation jointly organized a 228 commemorative procession today. Stops included Tianma Tea House, the site where the incident broke out.

The people at the front of the procession hold a banner saying this activity marks the 76th anniversary of the 228 incident. It took place on Feb. 28 and was organized by civic groups. Participants amassed at Rixin Elementary School. Their core value was "tear down authoritarianism and build a new country." Democracy activist Nylon Cheng's daughter took part and stood at the very front of the procession. She said she was marching for freedom and the future.

Cheng Chu-mei, Nylon Cheng's Daughter: “Today, we are marching for love and public welfare and peace. We are marching in order not to forget. We are marching for freedom and our beliefs. We are also marching for the future.”

Some participants marched with a head of Chiang Kai-shek beheaded from a statue as they bawled that he was the chief culprit.

March Participant: “The real 228 murderer!”

The procession departed the school at 10:30 a.m. The first stop was Tianma Tea House, the site where the incident broke out. The participants placed flowers at the location where contraband cigarettes were confiscated and also at a monument before bowing down to express their grief. 

Li Sheng-hsiung, Lawyer: “I don't think people should have hatred for the perpetrators. They're the ones that need to repent. It's like what Paul said in the Bible, he calls himself the chief of sinners, but he repented so his sins were washed away.”

The procession then went to the former site of the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau's Taipei Office, Taipei Radio Station, and the Executive Yuan, which was the Taiwan Provincial Government Office 76 years ago. On Feb. 28 that year, a crowd of 400 to 500 walked from the train station to this building and soldiers opened fire.

隊伍最前方，高舉「228七十六週年記念活動」白布條。選在二二八當天，民間團體第7度發起相關活動，首先集結在台北市日新國小，以「拆除威權、起造新國家」做核心價值。

民主鬥士鄭南榕的女兒鄭竹梅，也站在隊伍最前方，表示這是為自由與未來而走。

鄭南榕女兒鄭竹梅表示：「今天我們是為了愛與公益和平而走，我們是為了不要忘記而走，我們是為了自由以及信念而走，我們也是為了未來而走。」

不過也有民眾，拿來前總統蔣介石雕像的頭，直指他是元兇。

遊行民眾直言：「真正二二八凶手啊。」

遊行隊伍上午10點半從日新國小出發，第1站先來到二二八事件爆發地天馬茶房。先在發生查緝私菸爆發衝突的地點獻花，接著再前往紀念碑上獻花，鞠躬表達哀悼之意。而針對當年民眾死傷慘重，遊行代表也呼籲加害者要真心認罪。

律師李勝雄表示：「對被害者來講（口誤，應為加害者），我覺得不必存什麼仇恨，是他自己問題。他如果不悔改的話，《聖經》上像保羅他說我是罪魁，但是他悔改信徒就能夠洗清原罪。」

遊行隊伍隨後來到過去的專賣局台北分局、台灣廣播電台，最後停在行政院前，也就是當年的「台灣行政長官公署」。76年前，在2月28日下午，約有400、500人群眾，由火車站前進到這裡，卻遭到衛兵開槍掃射。