A series of events to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the 228 Incident and the 20th anniversary of the end of martial law began yesterday with the release of a documentary.
The 228 Incident took place in 1947, when Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) troops suppressed an uprising, leaving tens of thousands dead, missing or imprisoned.
After the uprising, martial law was briefly imposed and then maintained from 1949 until 1987.
PHOTO: CNA
The documentary, Taiwan's Love, was sponsored by the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) with the goal of presenting the 228 Incident and the White Terror era through the eyes of the victims, filmmaker Peng Chia-ju (彭家如) said.
Most films focusing on these events are rather political, Peng said, "so we wanted to present a more objective approach to this topic."
Former political prisoners are the focus of the documentary, in which they talk about their personal experiences and emotions during and since the 228 Incident and White Terror.
"It's been almost 40 years since I got out of jail and I haven't made any new friends," said Chen Meng-ho (陳孟和), a former political prisoner.
Chen was arrested for "reading socialist books" in 1949 and imprisoned for 15 years.
"I've never gotten in touch with my old friends either. I've been too afraid that people would be afraid of me," he continued. "I've imprisoned myself," he said.
Chen explained the source of his fear.
He once ran into a close cousin on the street after his release. As he approached his cousin, his cousin said: "I don't know you," and quickly turned away.
"He [the cousin] was not the only person like that," Chen added.
Another political prisoner pre-sents his story. Huang Chiu-shuang's (黃秋爽) entire family was arrested in 1950 because a friend of her father supportive of socialism had once stayed at their home, she said.
"They arrested my parents, my brother, my two sisters, my sister's child and me," Huang said.
Her father was quickly executed, and the rest of the family was released afterwards, she said.
However, they had to live under constant harrassment from the secret service, she said.
"Whenever we moved to a new place, secret service agents would talk to neighbors about us and the landlord would kick us out," she said.
The secret service even interfered with Huang's intimate relationships.
"Whenever someone wanted to ask me out for a date, they would tell him: `She's the daughter of a communist,' to scare him away," Huang said.
The stories of former political prisoners recorded in the documentary are only the tip of the iceberg.
Roger Hsieh (
By making the documentary, the filmmaker hoped to provoke public interest in the issue.
"We can't record everyone's experiences," Peng said, "but we hope whoever watches this documentary will want to find out more about what happened."
Taipei has once again made it to the top 100 in Oxford Economics’ Global Cities Index 2025 report, moving up five places from last year to 60. The annual index, which was published last month, evaluated 1,000 of the most populated metropolises based on five indices — economics, human capital, quality of life, environment and governance. New York maintained its top spot this year, placing first in the economics index thanks to the strength of its vibrant financial industry and economic stability. Taipei ranked 263rd in economics, 44th in human capital, 15th in quality of life, 284th for environment and 75th in governance,
The Sports Administration yesterday demanded an apology from the national table tennis association for barring 17-year-old Yeh Yi-tian (葉伊恬) from competing in the upcoming World Table Tennis (WTT) United States Smash tournament in Las Vegas this July. The sports agency said in a statement that the Chinese Taipei Table Tennis Association (CTTTA) must explain to the public why it withdrew Yeh from the WTT tournament in Las Vegas. The sports agency said it contacted the association to express its disapproval of the decision-making process after receiving a complaint from Yeh’s coach, Chuang
Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) tendered his resignation last night, admitting that he had misused a government vehicle, as reported by media. His resignation was immediately accepted by the Control Yuan. In a statement explaining why he had resigned, Lee apologized for using a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon on May 20. The issue first came to light late last month, when TVBS News reported that Lee had instructed his driver to take the dog to the salon. The news channel broadcast photos that it said were taken by an unnamed whistle-blower, which purportedly showed the
A former officer in China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) who witnessed the aftermath of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre has warned that Taiwan could face a similar fate if China attempts to unify the country by force. Li Xiaoming (李曉明), who was deployed to Beijing as a junior officer during the crackdown, said Taiwanese people should study the massacre carefully, because it offers a glimpse of what Beijing is willing to do to suppress dissent. “What happened in Tiananmen Square could happen in Taiwan too,” Li told CNA in a May 22 interview, ahead of the massacre’s 36th anniversary. “If Taiwanese students or