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20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE END OF MARTIAL LAW FEATURE: Memories haunt families of martial law's victims

Twenty years after martial law was lifted, memories from the martial law era still haunt not only those who were put behind bars as a result of political persecution but also their family members.

"I come from a family that was labeled as `the family of Chinese Communist spies,'" Chang Ying-chue (張瑛玨), vice chairwoman of the White Terror Victims Association, told the Taipei Times yesterday.

"I call myself `Chinese Communist spy sister.'"

1949

Like other victims of Taiwan's White Terror, Chang's family first became the target of persecution after martial law took effect on May 20, 1949.

One of Chang's elder brothers, Chang Bi-chiang (張碧江), a primary school teacher, was unexpectedly taken away in the middle of the night on June 1, 1950.

Chang Bi-chiang, like many other political prisoners during the period, was never given a reason for his arrest, even after being sentenced to 12 years in prison.

To this day the family does not know what sparked the arrest, Ching Ying-chue said.

EXTENDED SENTENCE

Chang Bi-chiang was jailed at Hsiaoliochiu (小琉球), an islet near Donggang, Pingtung County, for another two years after completing his sentence on the grounds that "his mind had not been corrected." He died in prison.

Even after Chang Bi-chiang's death, the family remained a target of political persecution. Chang Ying-chue's eldest brother, Chang Bi-kun (張壁坤), returned from studies in Shanghai on a public scholarship and was arrested in 1954 and executed along with his classmates. Authorities said they had discovered a subdivision of the Chinese Communist Party at National Taiwan University's Law School.

NO TRIAL

Chang Ying-chue's father, brother-in-law, cousin and many of her friends were arrested and given varying prison sentences. None of them received a trial, she said.

"As a result of one small case, 11 members of my family were implicated," Chang Ying-chue said. "Three generations of my family have suffered."

Although for many victims of political persecution, the reasons they were targeted remain unclear, many were undoubtedly victimized for exercising freedom of speech.

BETWEEN FRIENDS

Chiu Yi-feng (邱一峰), who is now an adviser to a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator, was one of them.

"Freedom of speech back then was a joke," Chiu, 68, told the Taipei Times.

Chiu's youth was wasted in a prison cell after he went to a movie with a friend and made a remark critical of the regime. His friend was serving in the military at the time.

DEATH PENALTY

The remark translated into a death penalty for Chiu, who was 25 at the time, on charges of treason.

The sentence was commuted and Chiu spend 15 years behind bars while his fiance struggled to acquire work skills to provide for their child.

"Although I agree that persecution in the past can be forgiven, the problem is that those who hurt us have not apologized to us," said Lin Shu-chih (林樹枝), a victim of political persecution.

"I don't know who to forgive," he said. "Even though we are open-minded enough to forgive them, we don't know where they are."
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