Two Taiwan-related organizations jointly published an article Sunday to commemorate the Taiwan people's patriotic uprising of February 28, 1947, calling for unity across the Straits and the opposition to the separatist remarks that distort that movement.

The Democratic Self-Government League and the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots said in an article entitled, "Compatriots Across the Straits Join Hands to Work for a Bright Future" that the February 28 rebellion was a patriotic deed.

The Taiwan people courageously fought against the autocratic Kuomintang government to seek democracy, while the whole of China was encouraged by the victory in the war against Japanese aggression, the article says.

The event was also an important part of a nationwide patriotic and democratic movement against the ruling Kuomintang regime. The Communist Party was deeply interested in the movement and its underground organization even participated in the event.
 
Historically, the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits share the pursuit of fighting oppression and autocracy and struggling for democracy. They also support each other in the efforts to build their homeland, says the article.

However, the current Taiwan authorities and separatist forces, in order to attain their political goal, distorted the uprising as "an independent movement of the Taiwan people to fight the regime from outside," or even as "a start of Taiwan independence." This, reports the article, completely ignores history.

The article quotes an open letter from the organizers of the uprising to the people of the whole country. It said that the aim of the movement was to "mop up corrupt officials and boost political reform in the province (of Taiwan). We do not reject compatriots from other provinces, but rather, we welcome them to participate in the political work of this province."

Today, says the article, the separatist forces use the event as a tool for their splittist activities, regardless of the Taiwan people's sincere wish for peace, stability and development. Their attempt to create conflicts among ethnic groups on the island and across the Straits is a reversal of democracy in Taiwan, and a blasphemy against and humiliation of the martyrs of the movement.

Thousands of Taiwan people were killed in the uprising.

Remembering the 57th anniversary of the February 28 uprising with Taiwanese compatriots is "restoring the historical truth," says the article, which calls on Taiwan society to cherish its hard-won achievements in promoting democracy and to maintain ethnic harmony, social stability and economic prosperity on the island.

It also calls for cooperation across the Straits to maintain peace and stability and make concerted efforts to realize the reunification and revitalization of the Chinese nation.

Several Taiwan patriots in Hong Kong founded the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League in December 1947, after the uprising failed.

(Xinhua News Agency February 23, 2004)