KMT chair hails 228 as Taiwan's 1st postwar democratic movement

Taipei, Feb. 27 (CNA) The 228 Incident marked Taiwan's first major democratic movement after World War II, Kuomintang (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) said Friday, urging the public to safeguard the nation's hard-earned democracy.

Ahead of the Feb. 28 Peace Memorial Day, Cheng said the incident was not only a tragedy but also the opening chapter of Taiwan's struggle for democracy.

Cheng, joined by senior KMT officials and civic group representatives, laid flowers at the 228 Peace Memorial Monument in Taipei's 228 Peace Memorial Park. She called on citizens to protect democratic rule of law, freedom of speech and judicial independence.

She described the incident as the result of state violence and abuse of power, leaving a painful legacy of oppression and bloodshed.

Cheng said Taiwan's democratic and legal systems were forged through successive democratic movements and were intended to ensure an independent judiciary.

However, she criticized what she called a decline in judicial neutrality, alleging the system has become a tool used against political opponents.

"Taiwan's judiciary today has willingly debased itself into a tool of those in power, serving as their claw to strike at political opponents," she said.

Cheng added that constitutional democracy requires limits on state power. A constitution, she said, exists to restrain those in authority and prevent abuse, not to serve as a ruler's instrument.

The 228 Incident refers to civilian uprisings that erupted in Taiwan on Feb. 28, 1947 and the following crackdown by the then ruling KMT government.

Tens of thousands of people were killed or imprisoned.