TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — With a new report on the 228 Incident to be published later this year, President Tsai Ing wen (蔡英文) pledged Thursday at a commemorative event that investigation into the wrongdoings of the past authoritarian regime and the work of the transitional justice will continue.

Sternly rejecting the notion that transitional justice is a matter of party politics and clinging on to a past that is long gone, President Tsai remarked that confronting what was done by an authoritarian government in the past is necessary for a country that has undergone the process of democratization.

The purpose of transitional justice is to build a better democratic society so that “every citizen living in Taiwan can have a secure life, without fear of violent oppression by the state apparatus, or of being taken away by the police in the middle of the night, never to return home again,” said the president.

This year marked the 72nd anniversary of the 228 Incident, a series of uprisings that took place across Taiwan in 1947, followed by a campaign of military suppression deployed by the then-authoritarian Kuomintang government. The incident led to hundreds and thousands of people suffering political persecution, many of whom were imprisoned, or even executed due to real or perceived opposition to the government.

The annual commemorative event held by the Memorial Foundation of 228 took place on Thursday at the 228 Memorial Park. Dozens of the family members of victims, and a number of cabinet officials, along with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲), as well as a congressional delegation from Germany, took part in the event and bore witness as President Tsai presented a certificate of exoneration to the family members of four victims.

In addition to the event, the foundation is planning to publish a new report on the 228 Incident based on new findings and existing investigative reports which have been conducted by government agencies.

The new report will not be the end of the investigation into the tragic incident, but part of the work of transitional justice, which still awaits to be carried out, commented Hsueh Hua-yuan (薛化元), chairman of the foundation.

The report is expected to show that (Taiwan's) understanding of the past is still insufficient, and that the work of pursuing the truth should continue, said President Tsai.