Four former political prisoners yesterday shared their stories with former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) at the Green Island Human Rights Memorial Park and said that the nation’s tragic past should be remembered so that democracy and freedom could persevere.
“We came back here as winners, because they [the former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) regime] did not defeat us. They wanted us to die, but we survived,” said Kuo Chen-chun (郭振純), one of the four.
The park was originally home to two prisons built to accommodate political prisoners during the White Terror era.
Photo: CNA
The four, all “first-generation” prisoners, were kept in the prison, which jailed more than 1,300 at its peak, between the 1950s and 1960s.
Kuo was 28 years old when he was arrested in 1953 and was sentenced to 22 years for treason.
Tsai Kun-lin (蔡焜霖) was only 20 when he was accused of “associating with the communists” because one of his friends was a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Tsai described his time in prison in a more positive tone, saying that prison “felt like a university or a graduate program” because the majority of the political prisoners on the island were from the social elite, including university professors, physicians and artists, so he had learned a lot.
Chang Chang-mei (張常美) was one of the few female political prisoners on the island.
She was an 18-year-old high-school student when she was sent to prison after a student association member accused her of being a CCP member.
Chang, who married a man who had been a political prisoner on the island after they were released, complained about the former KMT administration’s intentional neglect of the White Terror era history in school textbooks.
“Children nowadays do not know what happened because they were never taught about it,” Chang said.
Chen Meng-he (陳孟和) echoed Chang’s view, saying that although President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) has apologized to former political prisoners four or five times, he still tries to find excuses for the KMT’s authoritarian past.
That is why former prisoners appreciated Lee’s 1999 apology to political prisoners and their families — the first time a president apologized on behalf of the government — said Chen, a painter who was imprisoned for 15 years.
“Taiwan was ‘silenced’ during the 38 years of martial law, with many members of the social elite wiped out or imprisoned for what they believed or even for something they had not done,” Lee said.
“That was why I had to do what I could — push for the compensation of or restoration of the reputation of [political] prisoners,” the former president added.
Lee and the former prisoners visited the memorial park, where prison buildings have been turned into exhibition spaces, and paid tribute to the hundreds of former prisoners whose names have been etched in stone.
Speaking in front of the memorial monument, Lee spoke about the “power of memory,” saying that history should not be forgotten and only by remembering its past could Taiwan find the direction to move forward.
Lee is scheduled to conclude his three-day visit to Taitung today.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
RSS