The Transitional Justice Commission yesterday said it has researched military prisons that the Ministry of National Defense used during the White Terror era.
The commission studied the history of seven facilities over the past six months and has begun making plans to establish memorials at each, commission spokeswoman Yeh Hung-ling (葉虹靈) said.
The research would provide a template for the commission’s future dealings regarding “sites of injustice,” she said.
Photo: Chen Yu-fu, Taipei Times
The former Counterintelligence Bureau’s Taoyuan Correction and Training Facility, a “black site” located in Taoyuan’s Lujhu District (蘆竹), has survived intact, the commission said.
Before being commandeered by the bureau to be used as a secret prison, the traditional Minnan (閩南) compound was the ancestral home of former Taoyuan County commissioner Hsu Chung-te (徐崇德), it said.
Hsu’s family was allowed to live in half of the compound, while prisoners were kept in the other half, the commission said.
The bureau used the prison for alleged traitors from its own ranks and senior military officers who had incurred Chiang Kai-shek’s (蔣介石) wrath, such as Lee Hung (李鴻), a decorated commander who Chiang expelled from the army for befriending his rival, general Sun Li-jen (孫立人), it said.
The prison apparently remained in use until 1958, when the bureau relocated the program to the so-called “Wolung Mansion” (臥龍山莊) in the city’s Longtan District (龍潭), it said.
The Lujhu property is owned by a private citizen and the remains of sentry posts can still be seen, while the Wolung Mansion was demolished to build the Taoyuan Armed Forces General Hospital, it said.
The euphemistically named “Fongshan Guesthouse” (鳳山招待所) in Kaoshiung’s Fongshan District (鳳山) is one of three intact prison facilities used in the city during the White Terror era, it said.
The facility was a detention and interrogation center for sailors and other political prisoners in the navy’s custody, the commission said.
Built by Japan as a wireless communication hub, the facility is now a national historical heritage site, it said.
Kaohsiung’s two other military prisons can be found at Shoushan Military Base (壽山營區), and were operated by the Taiwan Garrison Command and the Southern Region Reserve Command, the commission said.
Three batches of banana sauce imported from the Philippines were intercepted at the border after they were found to contain the banned industrial dye Orange G, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday. From today through Sept. 2 next year, all seasoning sauces from the Philippines are to be subject to the FDA’s strictest border inspection, meaning 100 percent testing for illegal dyes before entry is allowed, it said in a statement. Orange G is an industrial coloring agent that is not permitted for food use in Taiwan or internationally, said Cheng Wei-chih (鄭維智), head of the FDA’s Northern Center for
The Chinese military has built landing bridge ships designed to expand its amphibious options for a potential assault on Taiwan, but their combat effectiveness is limited due to their high vulnerability, a defense expert said in an analysis published on Monday. Shen Ming-shih (沈明室), a research fellow at the Institute for National Defense and Security Research, said that the deployment of such vessels as part of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s East Sea Fleet signals a strong focus on Taiwan. However, the ships are highly vulnerable to precision strikes, which means they could be destroyed before they achieve their intended
LOOKING NORTH: The base would enhance the military’s awareness of activities in the Bashi Channel, which China Coast Guard ships have been frequenting, an expert said The Philippine Navy on Thursday last week inaugurated a forward operating base in the country’s northern most province of Batanes, which at 185km from Taiwan would be strategically important in a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Northern Luzon Command Commander Lieutenant General Fernyl Buca as saying that the base in Mahatao would bolster the country’s northern defenses and response capabilities. The base is also a response to the “irregular presence this month of armed” of China Coast Guard vessels frequenting the Bashi Channel in the Luzon Strait just south of Taiwan, the paper reported, citing a
About 4.2 million tourist arrivals were recorded in the first half of this year, a 10 percent increase from the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. The growth continues to be consistent, with the fourth quarter of this year expected to be the peak in Taiwan, the agency said, adding that it plans to promote Taiwan overseas via partnerships and major events. From January to June, 9.14 million international departures were recorded from Taiwan, an 11 percent increase from the same period last year, with 3.3 million headed for Japan, 1.52 million for China and 832,962 to South Korea,
RSS