On Friday, Green Island Human Rights Memorial Park will debut a series of events to mark the 60th anniversary of the declaration of martial law, during which an updated name-list of White Terror victims will be unveiled.
The memorial park’s administration said a total of 8,296 names would be disclosed, which is seven times the number disclosed in 1999 by the Bo Yang Human Rights Educational Foundation. The park’s administration entrusted Taiwan Art-in Design with collecting and verifying the information concerning White Terror victims.
Taiwan Art-in Design president Ronald Tsao (曹欽榮), who is also a board member of the Deng Liberty Foundation and the Chen Wen-chen Memorial Foundation, said the new list covers a time span stretching from just after the 228 Incident in 1947 to 1989, two years after Marial Law was lifted in 1987.
The 228 Incident refers to the military crackdown by the then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) administration on civilian protesters that started on Feb. 27, 1947. Historians estimate that around 30,000 people were killed.
What followed the 228 massacre has been labeled the White Terror, during which numerous people were arrested. Many lost their lives after the declaration of martial law.
Most of the victims were prominent Taiwanese, including lawyers, prosecutors, doctors, professors and media workers. There is no official tally of the number of people who were jailed, went missing or were killed.
“The sources for such a long list came from several places, including the National Archives Administration, household registration offices, published or unpublished memoirs or oral accounts from White Terror victims, the disciplinary facility for political prisoners in Tucheng (土城), as well as those that have already been compensated by the government for mistreatment during the Martial Law period,” Tsao said.
Tsao said some family members were able to find their fathers or other relatives when a list of “White Terror” victims was released two years ago.
However, family members cannot simply use the list as a way to demand compensation from the government, Tsao said, adding that they must follow the government’s procedures.
Recounting the difficulties in tracking down White Terror victims, Tsao said his research team had asked to view more than 100,000 digital files and hard copies of information from the National Archives Administration. The team spent about 10 years tracing the victims and comparing the information, he said.
“Some of the victims shared the same name,” Tsao said. “Some of the victims’ court rulings were lost and others did not even have rulings in their files.”
Tsao said that of the 1,061 people on the name-list who were executed, 63 percent were Taiwanese, while 35 percent were from China. Seventy-six percent of the victims were between 20 and 40 years of age. The youngest of the executed was 19 years old and the oldest was 65, he said.
Those who were executed were from all walks of life, including farmers, vendors, coal miners, small shop owners, sailors, reporters, inspectors of the Taiwan Railway Administration, students, school principles and military officials, he said.
Tsao said the intelligence agency even used daughters of the victims to solicit information from Chinese spies.
Names and photos of the updated list will be gradually posted online at http://2009greenisland.blogspot.com/.
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
The Taichung District Court yesterday confirmed its final ruling that the marriage between teenage heir Lai (賴) and a man surnamed Hsia (夏) was legally invalid, preventing Hsia from inheriting Lai’s NT$500 million (US$16.37 million) estate. The court confirmed that Hsia chose not to appeal the civil judgement after the court handed down its ruling in June, making the decision final. In the June ruling, the court said that Lai, 18, and Hsia, 26, showed “no mutual admiration before the marriage” and that their interactions were “distant and unfamiliar.” The judge concluded that the couple lacked the “true intention of
EVA Airways today confirmed the death of a flight attendant on Saturday upon their return to Taiwan and said an internal investigation has been launched, as criticism mounted over a social media post accusing the airline of failing to offer sufficient employee protections. According to the post, the flight attendant complained of feeling sick on board a flight, but was unable to take sick leave or access medical care. The crew member allegedly did not receive assistance from the chief purser, who failed to heed their requests for medical attention or call an ambulance once the flight landed, the post said. As sick
INDUSTRY: Beijing’s latest export measures go beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related tech, an academic said Taiwanese industries could face significant disruption from China’s newly tightened export controls on rare earth elements, as much of Taiwan’s supply indirectly depends on Chinese materials processed in Japan, a local expert said yesterday. Kristy Hsu (徐遵慈), director of the Taiwan ASEAN Studies Center at the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, said that China’s latest export measures go far beyond targeting the US and would likely affect any country that uses Chinese rare earths or related technologies. With Japan and Southeast Asian countries among those expected to be hit, Taiwan could feel the impact through its reliance on Japanese-made semi-finished products and
RSS