The Tragedy of 228: Historical Truth and Transitional Justice in Taiwan

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• Publisher／出版單位：Memorial Foundation of 228

• Editor in-Chief／主編：Hsueh Hua-Yuan, Chen Yi-Shen

• Editor／總策畫：Yang Chen-Long

• Publication Date／出版日期：2022-08

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The book, entitled The Tragedy of 228: Historical Truth and Transitional Justice in Taiwan, published by Memorial Foundation of 228, is following A Tragic Beginning: The Taiwan Uprising of February 28, 1947, which was the first academic book on the 228 Incident written in English published over 30 years ago. The book mainly explores eight different aspects of the 228 Incident, as shown in its eight chapter titles content: “What Caused the Incident: A Comparison of Government and Citizen Accounts from 1947, ” “International Perspectives on the Legal Status of Taiwan during and after the Incident, ” “Military Deployment and Suppression during the Incident, ” “Taiwan's News Media under the Impact of the Incident, ” “The Roles of Local Government Heads during the Incident, ” “The Roles of Intelligence Agencies during the Incident, ” “Historical Explorations of the Campaign to Redress Injustices of the Incident (1987-1997), ” and “Presidential Attitudes towards the Movement for Transitional Justice (1988-2019).”

Through the publication of the book, the Memorial Foundation of 228 attempts to set a new milestone in the study of 228 Incident by pursuing the transitional justice in international academic communities, as well as introducing and promoting Modern Taiwanese History to the world by featuring its unique social culture, geographical surroundings, and political transformations.

The Tragedy of 228: Historical Truth and Transitional Justice in Taiwan除導論章之外，共有八章，內容涵蓋二二八事件的原因論述、國際社會在事件前後對於台灣地位的認識、縣市首長與情治單位在事件中的角色、事件中的軍事部署與鎮壓、事件對於台灣新聞媒體造成的衝擊、平反運動的歷史考察以及歷任總統對於轉型正義的作為等面向。

二二八事件不僅是臺灣戰後初期重要的人權事件，也是同時期國際性的重要人權事件，應由東亞史、甚至世界史的脈絡來思考與檢視，才能彰顯其意義。做為第一本由財團法人二二八事件紀念基金會策劃，並由台灣本土學者戮力完成之二二八事件英文學術專書，本書不僅代表二二八研究走向國際的新里程碑，也是臺灣與其他國家一同針對人權與轉型正義的問題進行學術交流與相互切磋之重要媒介。