Taiwanese in LA mark 228 anniversary with children's event

Los Angeles, Feb. 28 (CNA) The Taiwanese community in Los Angeles commemorated the 79th anniversary of the 228 Incident over the weekend, with nearly 20 children taking part in a bilingual storytelling session introducing one of Taiwan's darkest chapters.

"When I first learned of it, I was pretty shocked, like I never knew something like this had happened," said 11th grader Alina Yang (楊千樂), who served as this year's storyteller for the children's session on the incident.

"As I went on and as I matured, I learned that although it's really tragic and it's unfortunate what happened to our people, it's vital to remember, to preserve this history and pass it on," Yang told CNA during the event at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office's Culture Center in Los Angeles on Saturday.

The 17-year-old Yang was referring to the 228 Incident, a bloody crackdown on protesters and dissenters in 1947 following the brutal beating of a tobacco vendor in Taipei by government agents.

The initial protests reflected pent-up anger over the heavy-handed methods of the then Kuomintang (KMT) regime, but soon erupted into islandwide demonstrations that were met with lethal military force, with estimates placing the death toll between 18,000 and 28,000.

The Taiwanese community in Los Angeles has held the storytelling session for years, and Yang -- who was named the "5th Princess" in last year's Miss Taiwanese American Pageant -- once sat among the children listening to the stories herself.

On the importance of "passing it on," Yang said it can serve as a warning about what came before and help people appreciate what they have today, as well as "the effort that people made into creating the culture and the life that we have today."

Amid growing interest in Taiwan this year in revisiting the country's history, driven in part by broader public reflection on historical justice, nearly 20 children -- a record high -- took part in the storytelling session in Los Angeles.

Originally, the children's session was intended to give youngsters a space to do crafts and make friends while adults attended the annual commemoration. It later incorporated children's picture books recommended by Taiwan's Transitional Justice Commission to introduce the history of the 228 Incident through storytelling.

Ken Wu (吳兆峯), one of the key initiators of the Taiwanese community's annual 228 memorial events in Los Angeles, said that helping young Taiwanese Americans learn more about Taiwan's history would enable them, as they enter mainstream American society, to better understand the historical tragedies and trauma experienced by different ethnic groups.

Wu, a policy adviser to Taiwan's Executive Yuan, said that although children may not fully understand the stories at the time, the sessions still serve as meaningful history education.

As one example, he said that when he took his daughter back to Taiwan, she even asked to see where Tianma Tea House -- the site where the 228 Incident started -- had once stood.

The storytelling session was one of several events held in Los Angeles over the weekend to commemorate the 228 Incident, alongside a commemorative concert, a seminar on preventing government atrocities and a memorial ceremony in which more than 60 Taiwanese Americans used candlelight to illuminate a map of Taiwan in tribute to the victims.