White Terror Memorial
White Terror Memorial in Taipei, Taiwan
White Terror Memorial Slideshow
White Terror Memorial Photo Gallery (Downloadable Pictures)
A memorial was inaugurated in Taipei yesterday to
commemorate victims of the White Terror era, a chapter in
Taiwan's history that participants at the ceremony yesterday
said still raised unanswered questions today.
The White Terror era loosely refers to the period of
political persecution that began when dictator Chiang
Kai-shek (蔣介石) of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)
declared martial law in 1949.
"It's unfortunate that the KMT will be back in power again
when there are still many unanswered crimes of the White
Terror," said writer Yang Chin-chu (楊青矗), who was arrested
in connection with the Kaohsiung Incident of 1979, a
pro-democracy demonstration.
Yang made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the
monument erected at the Jieshou Park (介壽公園), located on the
right front side of the Presidential Office Building.
The location bore two meanings -- it symbolizes people's
resistance to authority as "Jieshou" means "wishing
longevity to Chiang [Kai-shek]," and it also serves as a
remainder to the leadership that the "White Terror should
never happen again," Yang said.
During the more than 40-year White Terror era, roughly
coinciding with the martial law period, about 200,000 people
were imprisoned or executed for opposition to the KMT
regime, according to a report released by the outgoing
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) government last year.
"Not only [do we] wish to seek out historical truth and
determine responsibility, what's more, we hope to keep in
mind the lessons so that whoever governs in the future will
not repeat the mistakes of the past," the inscription on the
monument reads. "The erection of this monument is therefore
our prayer that hereafter Taiwan will become a democratic
and free country honoring human rights and justice."
Since a compensation foundation was established in 1998,
8,462 victims' families had submitted applications for
indemnification, out of which 6,808 cases have been approved
and NT$18.7 billion in compensation has been issued.
The foundation has so far issued certificates restoring the
reputations of 3,543 victims.
"Granting compensation, restoring reputation and setting up
a monument are ways to rebuild society ... But only by
investigating the cause of deaths and restoring the
[nation's] true history can the country learn lessons and
avoid the occurrence of such tragedy," President Chen
Shui-bian (陳水扁) said in his speech.
Chen also called on the public to pray for Tibetans under
China's violent suppression.
"Facing the monument in the other direction is the Liberty
Square, where a group of people have gathered for two weeks
praying for Tibet ... Everyone should come forward to urge
China to renounce violence and start a peaceful dialogue
with Tibet," he said.
Vice President Annette Lu (呂秀蓮) urged human rights experts
to look into who was responsible for the many crimes of
political persecution in the White Terror era that remain
unsolved.
Lu said she once suggested the government make public the
names of KMT officials, prosecutors and judges that handled
political cases, but the DPP didn't dare do that because it
was "too kind."
"It would be ironic if the perpetrators, who were either
directly or indirectly involved in the political
persecution, come into power with the new [KMT] government,"
Lu said.
(Taipei Times 2008)
