Lin Jiesi (林傑西), mayor of Mudan Township, will lead 10 descendants of victims in the Mudan Village Incident, to Okinawa on June 15 to 19. The encounter aims to reach reconciliation and symbiosis.
This tour originated from the invitation of Matayoshi Marikiyo (又吉盛清), an Okinawa-based scholar. He suggested that Paiwan people to visit Okinawa after a convention.
This convention was held to recall the Mudan Village Incident, which happened 130 years ago.
During the press conference, Township mayor Lin Jiesi appealed that the government should mark it as a special or national day, such as 228 incident or Wushe incident, in commemoration of those victims.
Wu Jinfa (吳錦發), vice minister of Council for Cultural Affairs, responded positively pointing out that the incident unfolded as a precursor to Japanese imperialism of Taiwan.
“This incident was relatively minor small. Still, it caused a great deal of impact,” he said.
In Year 10 of the Qing Dynasty Tongzhi Reign Period, or 1871, 66 seamen from Miyako Island (宮谷島) in Okinawa, were shipwrecked at Payao Bay (八瑤灣) near the southern tip of Taiwan. Fifty-four of them, upon stumbling into Mudan Village, were subsequently killed by local Aborigines. Japan, at the time, was expanding its power over Asia and deployed an expeditionary force, 3600 soldiers, to Taiwan on the pretext of protecting Okinawans, setting into motion the series of events now called "The Mudan Village Incident."
“This incident resulted from misunderstanding since neither side understood the other's language,” commented vice minister Wu. “This tour is intended to posthumously achieve this understanding, to reach a modicum of reconciliation and move forward with symbiosis.”