Formosa Calling

by Allan J. Shackleton

Eyewitness account of the 228 Incident in Taiwan, circumstances leading up to it, and the aftermath.

Genres: History

ebook

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Peter A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author was stationed in Taiwan in 1946 and 1947 as an engineer with the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA). In the book he describes the state of the island post the second world war and under the administration of the Chinese government, which systematically degraded the native Taiwanese, and placed incompetent mainland Chinese in charge of the industries, government and education systems. He documents individual cases of degradation and contempt of the Taiwanese to exemplify the building tension between Taiwanese and the Chinese occupiers. This widespread and growing tension finally erupted in violence after a group of police attempts to take away contraband cigarettes from a woman who was selling them, trying to make a living. A crowd gathered, and the police escaped, and in that escape fired their guns, killing an individual. That was the spark that led to a revolt on February 28, 1947, simply now referred to as the 228 Incident (or in other cases the 228 Massacre).

The author was in Kaohsiung and records what he observed during the many days around this event and in its aftermath with the systematic capture and killing or imprisoning of leaders of any kind by the Chinese. It offers an “outsiders” point of view, but clearly not one who was unbiased in his views.

It is an excellent contribution by a non-Taiwanese participant in the events to learn what happened before and after the 228 Incident.

FB: The book is a first-hand account by an non-Taiwanese” of the events leading up to and after the February 28,1947 (228) Incident in Taiwan. The story of the book’s path to publishing is one that took 50 years.


The Story of the Book

The author, Allan Shackleton, served in the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in Taiwan in 1946 and 1947. He witnessed the 228 Incident while in Kaohsiung (called Takao City under the Japanese rule, and in Shackleton’s book).

Upon return to New Zealand he wrote the book “Formosa Calling.” He tried to published it, but it was likely seen as politically incorrect at the time when questions were framed as pro or anti-communism. He gave up publishing it. But his family kept the manuscript even after Shackleton died in 1984, knowing how important it was to him.

In advance of the 50th anniversary remembrance of the 228 incident, Stanley Liao, the then acting president of the New Zealand Taiwanese Association, contacted Shackleton’s son Colin. The rest of the story I will quote from the Taipei Times article of February 28, 2000, listed below.

…. Beginning of quote ….

Liao said it took him sometime to shake off Colin's suspicion about his proposal that the manuscript should be published.

Colin admitted that he was very "careful" when talking to Liao the first few times.

Colin recalled his father's warning given to him in the mid-1980s before the old man passed away.

"Father had once told me, `be very careful, Colin, if you ever go to Taiwan. You may be put in jail on account of the manuscript.' The name Shackleton would be persona non grata in Taiwan because father was known to be against the [KMT] regime," he said.

"So I thought if somebody wanted the manuscript, it could be dangerous," he added, laughing, sitting in his hotel room in downtown Taipei on Thursday evening during his first visit to Taiwan.

…. End of quote….

The manuscript was published in 1998, 51 years after the 228 Incident. In 2000 it was placed in the 228 Memorial Museum, which it current resides.


References
NZ manuscript tells about 228: Primary Sources The publication of a New Zealander’s account of events surrounding the 228 Incident gives historians a new perspective. Taipei Times. Monday February 28, 2000
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/local...

See also the following article
New Zealander's lost story fills gap in Taiwan history. NZ Herald. 30 June 2000.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...

This article states:

"I was suspicious at first," said the 63-year-old Mr (Colin) Shackleton. "My father had always warned me that he was persona non grata in Taiwan because of his active opposition to the regime, and in particular because of a critical broadcast he made on short-wave radio from Sydney in 1947 that reached Taiwan.

"He told me never to go to Taiwan because I might be arrested. And then one day I have a Chinese-sounding man ringing me telling me he wanted to see the manuscript."

[Calvin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite an important book, possibly the only one outside of academia (and written primarily in English first), describing the Taiwanese revolt after the February 28, 1947 incident after the KMT came over from China. In the preface, the author’s son mentions that his father was an engineer and teacher first and foremost so some of the details describe the numbers of railways and factories, etc are pretty detailed.

However, as a Westerner in Taiwan after the Chinese Nationalists took over, he was able to record and eventually publish the horrifying accounts of what the KMT did to the Taiwanese people early on. While the author does talk about the February 28 incident, it’s not all encompassing as it’s just the author’s personal account. He sheds light on the violence the oppressive KMT inflicted upon the Taiwanese people by providing a firsthand account of the fear and chaos that resulted during that turbulent time.

The three notes I highlighted speak volumes and they ring true now the same as when Mr. Shackleton wrote them in 1948:

“[The Taiwanese people] realised that no freedom, social, economic or spiritual, would be obtained at the hands of the Chinese.”

“But the greatest difficulty for the Chinese in the future is the bitterness and hatred that they have piled up against themselves owing to the stupid and brutal way they have dealt with many innocent people.”

“I feel that the Chinese Government is too corrupt and impotent to bring about the widespread reforms which are necessary.”

[L · Rating 4 out of 5]

最近讀到一個叫「張若彤」的人往媒體投書（https://www.facebook.com/juotung/post...。
宋亞伯或者有多譯了（但補回「國民黨當局/國民黨中國」絕對合理），但當見到張在幫陳儀說話
//《福爾摩沙的呼喚》這本書的錯誤實在罄竹難書，別的就算了不跟他計較，但這本書的作者，把福建省主席任上的陳儀，也寫成了「以貪污腐敗濫殺無辜聞名於世」。陳儀本人的清廉，這是連政敵都不敢隨便質疑的，現在被你一個外國人謝克頓這樣講。
這種對陳儀的污衊，居然成為了台灣人共同的記憶，乃至於在後來的電影《#悲情城市》裡面，也是講得一副理所當然的樣子，絲毫沒有一丁點懷疑，這些人可都是文明人。//
，就知道他這篇算是奇文共賞。
（counter-arugment見：https://news.ltn.com.tw/news/focus/pa... ； https://tw.news.yahoo.com/228%E6%9B%B... 等等）
讀畢此書，首先要聲明書首有提過作者之觀點有所限制，蓋因他並非接觸所有資訊，而且作者本人不諳中文。張以懂中文的人所享的全知角度去要求Shackleton，是不切實際的。

個人認為Shackleton此書補充了若干在二二八事件及其後屠殺的不足，固然有其局限，但不應全面抹殺。任何一人寫述其當時的見聞都有助於形塑整件事各方的觀感。說「政敵」也不敢隨便質疑，說誰呢？
（另，UNRRA全書均不依傳統譯為「聯合國善後救濟總署」甚至連旗幟上寫好的漢字都強行改為另一個譯本，竊以為不妥）

[Pei-jean Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well rounded account of the February 28 Incident (usually referred to as 228) an anti-government protest that would result in Taiwan (Formosa as it was known as then) being subjected to martial law for 40 years.
Was expecting more than what was delivered, but for those seeking to understand more about this period of Taiwan’s history this is a good start.

[Troy Parfitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Formosa Calling

Many of the better books about China and Taiwan have been written by Western observers. Westerners, after all, have been much freer to say what they want and have had the education, wherewithal, and integrity to produce lasting cultural and political narratives. Take, for instance, Formosa Calling: An Eyewitness Account of the February 28th, 1947 Incident, the newest offering from Camphor Press.

The Western observer in this case, New Zealander Allan J. Shackleton, was an Industrial Rehabilitation Officer working for the UN in Formosa, or Taiwan, just after World War II. While conducting his business, he observed the antics of the Chinese Nationalists, who’d plundered China before the Second Sino-Japanese War and then gone on to pillage Taiwan after the resumption of the Chinese Civil War. It was the thing at which the Nationalists excelled: carpetbagging. Shackleton writes of the time just before Chiang Kai-skek and any of his light-fingered Nationalist entourage who hadn’t defected to the Communists fled to Taiwan before turning the island into the “real China” and a police state.

In Formosa Calling, we see how the Chinese put the squeeze on Taiwan and how the Taiwanese resisted. The locals had benefited materially and intellectually under the Japanese, so naturally they took issue with the graft and sleaze brought by the semi-literate bearers of a supposedly superior civilization. We see how the Formosans took up arms against their new Chinese overlords and how the Chinese replied in kind. In essence, we are treated to an honest and reliable first-person and close-up perspective of the post-war turmoil and crackdown that changed Formosa’s destiny.

I liked this book quite a lot and think it should be paired with George Kerr’s Formosa Betrayed. From Shackleton, I learned new things, for instance details about the corruption (e.g. citizens being encouraged to supply “presents” to tax officials so their tax-filing would go smoothly), the violence, and the American bombing of Formosa when it was under Japanese rule (I knew the US bombed Taiwan; I’ve stood on patches of land that were flattened; but I didn’t grasp the extent of air raids or know of any Taiwanese casualties).

Formosa Calling works as a valuable historical document concerning a pivotal event that shaped Taiwan’s present (the Nationalists still exist) along with the current standoff between the “two Chinas.” The tome also works as an introduction to the more casual reader. I think it would be perfect for anyone with a China or Taiwan interest or any expatriate residing in Taiwan. Thank you, Camphor Press. Nice one.

Troy Parfitt is the author of Why China Will Never Rule the World