July 15 has been designated a national day to commemorate the lifting of martial law and remember its victims. In the afternoon, President Ma Ying-jeou attended events organized by the Compensation Foundation for Improper Verdicts on Sedition and Communist Espionage Cases during the Martial Law Period (財團法人戒嚴時期不當叛亂暨匪諜審判案件補償基金會). The president was accompanied by foundation chairman Lin Junq-tzer (林政則) and on behalf of the government reiterated his deepest remorse for what transpired during that period. He also urged the public to keep in mind the lessons of history in order to prevent such regrettable incidents from happening again.
The president personally presented the representatives of victims and their families with documents that restored their good names. He stated that the government continues to be concerned for what happened in the past and seeks to comfort the victims and their families. In addition, the president presented five letters written by White Terror victim Huang Wen-gong (黃溫恭) to his family while in prison. As teary-eyed members of Mr. Huang's family accepted the letters, the president said he feels deep sadness for what happened. He also carefully listened to remarks they made, and offered his deepest condolences for the events that took place.
In remarks at the ceremony, President Ma stated that after the end of martial law and upon return to constitutional government, calls for vindication were made by martial law victims and their families. In addition, society in general formed a consensus on the issue. The president noted that during his tenure as justice minister the ministry drafted the February 28 Incident Disposition and Compensation Act, and the Executive Yuan adopted plans for the government to apologize and admit its wrongs, establish memorials, create a national holiday to commemorate the incident, restore the good names of those unfairly victimized, and establish a foundation to provide compensation to victims and their families. Over the past 10-plus years, the cases of over 9,000 White Terror victims have been reviewed, and over 7,000 people have been deemed eligible for compensation. To date, over NT$19 billion in compensation has been paid out. Meanwhile, the cases of over 3,000 February 28 Incident victims have been reviewed and compensation totaling over NT$7 billion has been granted in over 2,000 instances. This marks the first time in the history of the ROC that the government has admitted its wrongs, apologized, and restored the good names of people wronged by government officials, he said.
The president stated that since taking office in May 2008 he has continuously promoted human rights education. In addition, he noted that he has signed the instruments of ratification for two human rights covenants of the United Nations, and revisions to local laws and regulations will be completed by December 10 this year to ensure that they conform to global standards. At the same time, the government has established human rights parks in the Taipei district of Jingmei and on the offshore island of Green Island, while the National 228 Memorial Museum has also been founded to exhibit related historical documents. President Ma remarked that all of these initiatives are aimed at helping the public remember the lessons of history and preventing these types of errors from being repeated.
In referring to the five letters written by Huang Wen-gong that are being returned to his family, President Ma explained that before Dr. Huang was executed in 1953 he had written letters asking his family to deliver his remains to National Taiwan University Hospital , but his family didn't see the letters until 56 years later. Unfortunately, however, Dr. Huang's wife, due to old age and sickness, was not able to read the letters, which President Ma said was extremely regrettable. The president said that the National Archives Administration has over 20,000 pages of documents from the February 28 Incident and the White Terror period, and it requires considerable manpower and resources to organize all of the papers. He expressed his hopes, however, that the Executive Yuan will formulate a project and draft a budget in order to carry out the necessary work step by step. President Ma expressed his sincerity and deepest wishes that these notes and logs written by persons detained can be returned to family members as soon as possible. While these papers might only constitute documents from the government's perspective, for the victims' families they represent decades of longing and remembrance. The government must put itself in the shoes of these families.
President Ma stated that the government's bold efforts to improve cross-strait relations have brought incipient signs of peace to the Taiwan Strait. In doing this, his goals are to enable generations of ethnic Chinese to live in peace and prosperity, and to prevent either side from resorting to arms. This is the only way the people of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait can live happy lives in a climate of freedom, democracy, rule of law, and human rights, he said. President Ma expressed his belief that the development of human rights has reached quite a high level in Taiwan, but that further efforts are needed in mainland China. He commented that each year in remarks he releases on the anniversary of the June 4 Tiananmen Incident, he expresses his concern about the dissidents arrested or detained by mainland authorities. He stressed that his purpose in doing so is not to strut Taiwan's democratic accomplishments, but rather to show his concern for fundamental human rights.
President Ma pointed to what Germany has done to make amends for its persecution of the Jews in World War II. Besides implementing various social education measures, it even invented a 25-letter word that means "face the facts of history, recall painful experiences, admit wrongs and apologize, and start afresh." This has enabled Germany to move beyond the strong guilt it feels for its past actions, and to re-establish normalcy. The president said that the ROC is taking a similar path. He called on the government and the public to continue working toward that end, complete unfinished business, and prevent similar incidents from recurring.