Former Hsinchu High School students who had been unable to properly graduate because of the White Terror finally got the chance at the school’s 75th graduation ceremony on Wednesday.
School president Lee Ming-chao (李明昭) said Taiwan was subject to martial law since 1949, and any form of dissent was investigated and eradicated, a period from which the school, known for its liberal education, did not escape unscathed.
“Many of our former students were arrested for joining book clubs, which was a common means at the time to cover illicit activities,” Lee said, adding that those who were fortunate returned and completed their education.
Photo courtesy of National Hsinchu Senior High School
Those who were less fortunate include Chou Hsien-nung (周賢農), who was embroiled in the Socialist Youths Alliance (社會主意青年大同盟) incident, and the late Liu Chia-tung (劉家東), who was arrested for reading a banned book that was deemed “left-leaning in thought,” Lee said.
Chou and Liu’s son, Liu Yi-hsiang (劉奕祥), attended Wednesday’s event, where they received honorary graduation certificates that were 70 years late in coming, Lee said.
Over the past two decades, the democratization of Taiwan has allowed researchers to access files that had been off-limits, uncovering more information about the targeting of students during the White Terror era, Liu Yi-hsiang said.
Working with alumni unions, the school has come to recognize how some of its former students, such as Chou and Liu Chia-tung, were affected by the events and by not having been able to graduate.
Chou was invited to talk about his experiences with students at the school, and hopefully the school would one day learn the whole truth behind the Socialist Youths Alliance incident, Lee said.
The ceremony coincided with the school’s centenary celebrations of its founding.
Lee said the school hoped to not only offer some form of reparation to the White Terror victims, but also to teach current-day students about that part of the school’s history.
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