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Green Island swaps prisoners for tourists

Eroded rock formations line the coast of Green Island in this photo from last month. Once home to the political prisoners of the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime, Green Island possesses a fascinating variety of land and seascapes, making the island off the southeast coast an oceanic playground. PHOTO: AP

It isn't exactly Devil's Island, but a verdant speck of land off the Taiwanese coast shares a good measure of the former French penal colony's dark notoriety -- and that is boosting its cachet as a budding tourist resort.

From 1951 until the end of martial law in 1987, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) government sent more than 20,000 political prisoners to Green Island, a tropical mixture of pristine beaches and dense vegetation atop a mountainous dollop of volcanic rock.

Today, except for a small contingent of hardcore criminals, the prisoners are gone, and the KMT is a full participant in Taiwan's vibrant democracy, a counterpoint to the communist administration in China, 300km to the west.

And rather than punishment, Green Island is meting out a catalog of pleasures that draw upward of 40,000 visitors on summer weekends -- 20 times its resident population.

They come to the pear-shaped 104km2 isle for the laid-back bliss of the Chaojih Saltwater Springs, eye-opening Pacific Ocean diving amid luxuriant coral reefs and colorful fish, and a bizarre collection of volcanic rocks in the shape of petrified four-legged creatures like camels and elephants.

Many visitors start at Chaojih, a collection of bubbling pools set against the background of the island's steeply rising mountain spine. Only in Sicily and on Japan's Kyushu Island are there other examples of seaside springs.

With its volcanic origins, Green Island is also the perfect place for a dive into a world of coral and brightly colored fish. Glass-bottom boats and a submarine-like craft are available, but more venturesome travelers rent scuba and snorkeling gear to test the depths for themselves.

For history buffs, there is a monument to the 20,000 political prisoners, including an estimated 1,000 who were executed over allegations they had communist sympathies or sought to undermine the KMT' iron-fisted rule.

Green Island was Taiwan's designated penal colony, a dumping ground for the real and imagined foes of the regime.

Today they are remembered in a collection of black and white photographs mounted on a stark memorial wall and a series of carefully reconstructed cells, a reminder of the intense suffering they endured.

But Green Island is also oriented toward the future -- or at least its leisure moments.

The island is dotted with nine hotels, offering services ranging from the merely adequate to the near luxurious. All the better establishments are equipped with air conditioning and cable television.

Not surprisingly, the island's restaurants focus on sea food, led by chewy sea cucumbers and other crustaceans. Seaweed ice cream is a useful balm against the heat, though less exotic flavors are available.

Access to the island is provided by a 12-minute flight from Taitung, 33km away, or the Taitung ferry, which takes about an hour. Ferry passengers can spend the time looking for flying fish skimming over the waves.
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