When friends of Liu Yueh-shan (劉玥珊), an employee of an electronics firm in Taichung, heard that she had just returned from a trip to Green Island (綠島), they were eager to find out if she had gone snorkeling or tried the hot springs on the island’s northeast coast.
“I would always tell them that ‘I wasn’t going there for fun,’” Liu wrote in her online journal. “I told them I was there to be in prison, to feel and experience the torture and sufferings that my grandfather had been through.”
Liu knew from her childhood that her grandfather was one of the victims of the 228 Incident and was executed by the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Government in Taipei. The 228 Incident took place in 1947 when Chinese Nationalist troops suppressed a Taiwanese uprising, leaving tens of thousands dead, missing or imprisoned.
Liu, however, was not motivated to take on this root-searching journey until she saw the name of her grandmother, Liu Wan-shan (劉萬山), carved on the 228 Monument in the Taiwan Democracy Memorial Hall in March.
Liu was one of the 40 people who participated in the Prison Experience Camp last month, hosted by the Taiwan 21st Century Cultural Association. Participants stayed in prison cells at the Eastern Coastal Patrol Office on Green Island for two nights. Aside from spending the night in prison, the association took them to visit the Oasis Village (綠洲山莊), which is now known for once being the home of political prisoners.
Attendees also took part in a question-and-answer session with victims of the White Terror, who were addressed as “freshmen” (新生) back in those days.
The Oasis Village is no longer used as a jail. The history, however, has made Green Island a must-visit tourist attraction for those interested in the nation’s history.
The association’s chief secretary, Chen Yi-shan (陳億珊) said that young people learn many things through the event.
Facilities inside the village, such as the large hexagon prison that housed all the inmates and the administrative office, remain intact. Two years ago, the government decided to establish the Green Island Culture Park (綠島文化園區).
“The 13th Squadron,” (中隊), for example, was a title given to those who died on the island from sickness or accidents. Those of the 13th squadron were buried in a site near the village.
“Hell’s Gate” (鬼門關) is a giant rock near the seaside in the shape of an elephant’s nose. Every newcomer had to enter Oasis Village under the elephant’s nose. The rock was named Hell’s Gate because it led to the unpredictable path of life or death.
Built in 1999, the Human Rights Memorial Park near the Oasis Village has also become part of the culture park. Designed by Taiwanese architect Han Pao-teh (漢寶德), the Memorial Park is known for its Human Rights Monument, the first one in Asia.
On the monument is a verse written by poet Bo Yang (柏楊): “In that era, mothers cried night after night over their children imprisoned on this island.”
Starlux Airlines, Taiwan’s newest international carrier, has announced it would apply to join the Oneworld global airline alliance before the end of next year. In an investor conference on Monday, Starlux Airlines chief executive officer Glenn Chai (翟健華) said joining the alliance would help it access Taiwan. Chai said that if accepted, Starlux would work with other airlines in the alliance on flight schedules, passenger transits and frequent flyer programs. The Oneworld alliance has 13 members, including American Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific and Qantas, and serves more than 900 destinations in 170 territories. Joining Oneworld would also help boost
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
Taiwan's Gold Apollo Co (金阿波羅通信) said today that the pagers used in detonations in Lebanon the day before were not made by it, but by a company called BAC which has a license to use its brand. At least nine people were killed and nearly 3,000 wounded when pagers used by Hezbollah members detonated simultaneously across Lebanon yesterday. Images of destroyed pagers analyzed by Reuters showed a format and stickers on the back that were consistent with pagers made by Gold Apollo. A senior Lebanese security source told Reuters that Hezbollah had ordered 5,000 pagers from Taiwan-based Gold Apollo. "The product was not
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai