A Taiwan government-sponsored report has found Chiang Kai-shek, the island’s late authoritarian ruler, responsible for the killings of thousands of people in 1947. This represents an unprecedented open accusation of the man whose authority remains unchallenged after more than a decade of democratisation.

“Chiang Kai-shek was the real murderer” of thousands of native Taiwanese who died in the so-called 228 massacre, said a report published yesterday. The study on the political and legal responsibilities for the massacre, which began on February 28 1947, was commissioned by the government and compiled under the leadership of Chang Yen-hsien, head of the Academia Historica.