President Ma Ying-jeou on the 228 Memorial Day (February 28) attended the opening of the National 228 Memorial Museum. Speaking there, he stressed that the establishment of a national museum to commemorate the incident demonstrates the ROC government's ability to reflect on the mistakes it committed in the past. The president also called on the 228 Memorial Foundation to continue working to uncover the truth about the incident and educate the public, so that such events do not recur in Taiwan.
In an address at the event, the president expressed how pleased he was to witness the opening of the National 228 Memorial Museum. He also listed the reasons for establishing the museum and described the process of its establishment. President Ma stressed that the formal opening of the National 228 Memorial Museum is extremely meaningful, as it symbolizes the progress and growth of freedom and democracy here, and demonstrates the ROC government's ability to critically reflect on its past. As president of the ROC, he empathizes with the families of the victims while facing the facts of history square on. Though the government has addressed this incident by admitting its wrongs, apologizing, establishing memorials, formulating legislation, restoring the good names of those wrongly accused of crimes, and designating a national holiday, the president said he is aware that for many of the victims' families, the pain does not go away so easily. Consequently, the 228 Memorial Foundation will have two missions in the future, one being to investigate and uncover the truth, and the other being to provide historical education. This will enable future generations to understand what actually happened during the 228 Incident and prevent similar incidents from taking place here ever again.
The president was then accompanied by Premier Wu Den-yih and 228 Memorial Foundation Chairman Chan Chi-shean on a tour of the museum. The leaders listened to introductions of various exhibits provided by a guide and paused as they examined photos, descriptions of events, and articles that had belonged to the victims.
In the afternoon, the president attended a ceremony commemorating the 64th anniversary of the 228 Incident and on behalf of the government reiterated his apology to the victims of the families, to whom he bowed to show his sincerity. President Ma stated that each year he has listened to the views of the families at events commemorating the 228 Incident, and he is deeply aware that no number of apologies or amount of compensation can bring back the lives of loved ones. He said he realizes that the pain of the families still exists in their hearts. As for the wrongs committed by the government 64 years ago and the suffering it caused, he acknowledged that as president of the ROC he must bear full responsibility. With a solemn heart, he expressed his sincerest apologizes to the families of the victims.
President Ma explained that this year's commemorative activities for the 228 Incident differ from those of the past in that the National 228 Memorial Museum, the establishment of which he recommended five years ago, is now formally open to the public. As Taiwan's first national human rights-oriented museum, the National 228 Memorial Museum shows that the central government takes the 228 Incident very seriously and has reflected critically on its own role in the incident. It also demonstrates how Taiwan's democracy has grown and progressed, and points to the government's ability to reflect on the wrongs it committed in the past. For over a decade, he remarked, his attitude toward the 228 Incident has consistently been to empathize with the families while facing the facts of history square on. The facts are what they are, he said, and should not be covered up. It is with this attitude that the National 228 Memorial Museum will seek to transform the historical suffering into an opportunity to create an atmosphere of compassion, humility, tolerance, and mutual understanding among the people of Taiwan.
The president commented that history is like a mirror that enables us to scrutinize the past and look ahead to the future. Such an unfortunate event took place because Taiwan at that time did not yet have a fully developed democracy. Today, however, the people of Taiwan have directly elected four presidents. The public can use democracy as a means to monitor the government and prevent public corruption. The president said that two years ago in 2009 he signed the instruments of ratification for two United Nations human rights covenants in order to bring Taiwan's human rights protections up to world standards. Therefore, he strongly hopes that both the government and the people will remember the lessons of history and continue to work hand-in-hand to promote freedom, democracy, human rights, and rule of law, so that similar incidents will never happen again in Taiwan.