Taipei: When Kenneth Wang recounted his father's suffering during the 228 Incident of 1947, he used humor to break up the difficult memories. "I was taught in elementary school that two times two makes four, so I used to wonder why people said 'two-two-eight,'" he said in an interview with CNA in late January. Wang, who returned to Taiwan in 2017 after decades abroad, said he was only about 1 month old when his father, Wang Pyng-shoei, was shot to death in early March 1947. To protect him, his family kept him largely unaware of the tragedy and of the 228 Incident itself until he was 18 and living overseas.

According to Focus Taiwan, as the 79th anniversary of the 228 Incident approaches, Wang is not alone in feeling that measures to bring about transitional justice have fallen short. The 228 Incident describes a deadly crackdown on islandwide protests and dissent in the days and months following the brutal beating of a tobacco vendor on February 27, 1947. A government-commissioned report estimated the death toll at between 18,000 and 28,000 people, though recent studies suggest this may be an overestimate. Many believe that then-Republic of China President Chiang Kai-shek should be blamed for the incident because he approved the crackdown from China.

Taiwan has initiated several measures to promote healing through transitional justice, including apologies, compensation for victims' descendants, and efforts to set the historical record straight. However, Wang and others feel that transitional justice cannot be considered complete without addressing Chiang's legacy, including removing his statue from the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei and resolving the status of the remains of Chiang and his son, Chiang Ching-kuo, who are currently housed in two mausoleums in Taoyuan.

For other descendants of victims, a more personal touch would be helpful. Kao Chao-hong, whose maternal grandfather was killed during the 228 Incident, said, "Many people ask us why we can't just let it go now that so much time has passed." He emphasized the need for acknowledgment and apologies from descendants of those responsible to help families find closure.

Hsueh Hua-yuan, a professor at National Chengchi University's Graduate Institute of Taiwan History, highlighted that transitional justice concerns not only Taiwan's past but also its future. Taiwan's ethnic tensions, he said, are partly an "aftereffect" of failing to clearly identify responsibility for the violence. He believes that a broad consensus on accountability may help foster greater internal reconciliation.

Hsueh also noted that many reports and archives suggest accountability, but the public remains largely unaware of them. He emphasized the difficulty in building a public consensus on accountability, which is crucial for transitional justice to take fuller shape.

In 1997, February 28 was designated as a national holiday, marking Taiwan's first commemorative day for a historical tragedy. Both Wang and Kao stressed the importance of using the 228 Incident as a lesson for contemporary society to respect human rights and safeguard democracy. They hope that future generations will reflect on the historical significance of the day, rather than treating it merely as a holiday.

Hsueh suggested that history textbooks should focus more on questions of responsibility and that those engaged in transitional justice must continue speaking out. He acknowledged that while historical research is inherently incomplete, achieving a substantial majority agreement on responsibility could help transitional justice take fuller shape.