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TAIPEI, TAIWAN - LESS than a month before Taiwan's presidential elections, the two candidates vying to lead the island will rally supporters on Thursday to honour thousands killed in a 1947 crackdown by nationalist troops.
The so-called February 28 massacre, which came following riots sparked by the beating of a female vendor in Taipei by a nationalist Kuomintang inspector for selling untaxed cigarettes, has been officially observed since 1998.
But this year, the anniversary will be decidedly political as it comes amid a heated campaign between frontrunner Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang and Frank Hsieh of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for the presidency.
Taiwan will go to the polls on March 22 to choose a successor to Chen Shui-bian, who along with the DPP has held late nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek responsible for the 1947 massacre.
DPP supporters will march through the streets of Taipei on Thursday from 2:28 pm (0628 GMT), to mark the date of the incident, before a night rally at a stadium in the capital expected to draw 10,000 people, organisers said.
Hsieh and his running mate Su Tseng-chang are expected to attend, they said Wednesday.
'We have to stand united and work together for Taiwan's democracy. We urge young people to go to the stadium on February 28 ... to fight for Taiwan's future,' Hsieh's office said in a statement.
Across town, Ma - who is leading Hsieh by about 20 points in opinion polls after his opposition Kuomintang party crushed the DPP in January legislative elections - will attend a concert in tribute to the victims, his office said.
Some 1,000 people are expected to attend, including relatives of some of the victims, organisers said.
In 1947, Chiang - then fighting a civil war against Mao Zedong's communists in China - ordered nationalist forces from the mainland to crack down on the disturbances spreading across Taiwan, and a killing spree ensued.
Chen has called for a posthumous trial of Chiang, who fled to Taiwan after losing to Mao, for his alleged role in the February 28 incident.
But others here remember Chiang as the man who laid the foundation for the island's economic prosperity and safeguarded it from Chinese invasion.
The massacre remained taboo for decades under Chiang's rule. He died in 1975 after ruling the island for 26 years.
It was not until 1995 that then KMT president Lee Teng-hui made the first official apology. Parliament later agreed on compensation and made February 28 an official holiday. -- AFP
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