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People gathered in front of the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau on February 28, 1947
People gathered in front of the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau on February 28, 1947

The 228 Incident (Chinese: 二二八事件; pinyin: èr èr bā shìjiàn; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Jī-jī-pat sū-kiāⁿ) or 228 Massacre was an uprising in Taiwan that began on February 28, 1947 and was suppressed by the Kuomintang (KMT) government, resulting in between ten thousand to twenty thousand civilians killed. The number "228" refers to the day of the incident, February 28 (28th day of the 2nd month, 2/28). This event is now commemorated in the Taiwan as Peace Memorial Day. Official government policy had repressed the education of the events until recently, for various reasons. Many of the details of the incident are still highly controversial and hotly debated in Taiwan today, as the largely conservative-controlled government often tries to stifle discussion on the topic. Some people point to Communist involvement as a "justification" for the KMT's action. (Full article...)