In Taiwan, Feb. 28 is a national holiday. It’s a day to remember the 228 Incident of 1947, which preceded a period of nearly 40 years of martial law known as the White Terror.
The beating of a woman selling contraband cigarettes was the spark that set off the 228 Incident. But dissatisfaction with the new rule of Chiang Kai-shek's Republic of China had been growing for two years.
From Feb. 28 to March 21, 1947, Taiwan saw a widescale anti-government uprising, followed by a bloody crackdown. Weeks of indiscriminate arrests, killings and executions led to an estimated tens of thousands killed. But, to this day, the exact number of lives lost remains unknown.
