隨著一九四七年三月的軍事鎮壓，二二八事件被國民黨迅速掩蓋起來，一九五○年國民黨盡全力讓二二八事件在臺灣社會與媒體報導中消失；然而紮根於日本的海外臺灣獨立運動又重新喚起對此事件的注意，對臺灣獨立運動者而言，二二八是有利於臺灣獨立的重要政治因素，它是用來對抗來自大陸的國民黨政權。在臺灣民主化後，雖然臺灣獨立的請求與對二二八的討論已公開，但二二八仍在獨立運動中扮演重要角色。本文希望能展現臺灣獨立運動者如何為維持其在運動中的合理性，而對二二八作出不同的詮釋，藉以觀察二○○四年以來台灣政治的發展。

Following the brutal suppression of the 228-Incident in March 1947, the incident was swiftly covered up by the KMT-regime. In 1950, the 228-incident vanished from the Taiwanese media altogether, and the regime made every effort to erase the memory of 228 from Taiwanese society. However, the Taiwan Independence Movement (TIM) overseas, which first took root in Japan in the l950s, kept the memory of the incident alive. From the perspective of the TIM, 228 was an important political asset m their struggle for Taiwan Independence, since it could be utilized to rally support against the mainlander-dominated regime of the KMT. Even during and after the process of democratization in Taiwan, when both the call for Taiwan Independence as well as an open debate on the 228-incident were made possible, 228 continued to play an important role for the TIM. This article wishes to show how the TIM utilized the memory of 228 in their struggle for national independence, and how different interpretations of the incident had to be developed in order to preserve its legitimating power for the movement. As could be observed in 2004, these developments are still continuing today.