Former President Ma Ying-jeou has been in the news over a memorial commemorating the 74th anniversary of the 228 Incident. Ma is set to attend a commemorative ceremony on Sunday and address the audience at the invitation of the Taipei City Government.

The term “228 Incident” refers to the events of February 28, 1947, a sad chapter in modern Taiwanese history. The incident itself started on February 27, 1947, when the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau sent agents to confiscate illegal cigarettes from a street vendor. A conflict erupted in which one person was killed by a gunshot. This initial confrontation then escalated into a full-scale uprising against the KMT government.