Jingmei White Terror Memorial Park | 白色恐怖景美紀念園區

Taiwan is a vibrant democracy today, but that wasn't always the case. 

In 1947, President Chiang Kai-shek 蔣介石 declared martial law after the 228 incident. The entire incident started over cigarettes, which lead to martial law being declared in Taiwan for over 30 years. It was finally lifted on July 15, 1987.

During this era, there were detention centers in which political prisoners were housed and tortured for speaking out or even implying dissatisfaction with the government. Jingmei White Terror Memorial Park 白色恐怖景美紀念園區, which used to house political prisoners, has now been converted into a Human Rights Museum.

It is a spooky place to visit. To think that so many innocent lives were lost in this place, people were tortured and may have had to endure cruel punishments.

You can still see the barbed wires and slogans written (on the first photo) to encourage the prisoners "work hard" and "be loyal to the country."

The interior has been converted into various exhibitions that showcase the conditions that the prisoners had to live in. Prisoners here would work to wash, hang, dry, and iron piles of clothing day in and day out.

Those imprisoned had to share their ward with a number of people, as were bathrooms. 

There was even a depiction of the types of food prisoners would receive daily. They were gathered 2-3 times a day at fixed times and would receive rationed quantities of vegetables, meat, and rice. Interestingly, the complex had a mini library that was filled with censored books.

Inside the complex, medical clinics and doctors were available but resources were severely limited. Mini shops sold daily essentials such as soaps that prisoners could purchase with their earnings from working at the laundry workshop.

Besides that, family members of those jailed were only allowed to limited visits. Even when they did visit, they could only see each other though a glass and communicate with each other via the telephone. No hugs, no handshakes, no nothing. It was heartbreaking.

There were two floors in total but the second floor wasn't open for the public, at least not yet.

There were military courts in the Memorial Park as well. These were used for trying the prisoners. The most notable case was the Kaohsiung Incident (also known as the Formosa Incident) 美麗島事件, in which future politicians, Chen Chu 陳菊 and Annette Liu 呂秀蓮 (who later went on to become vice president) were also involved. They were sentenced to 11-12 years in prison of which they served 5-6 years for attending a human rights rally that turned violent in Kaohsiung. Some of their lawyers also became future politicians: Chen Shui-Bian 陳水扁 (who later became president), Frank Hsieh 謝長廷, and Su Tseng-chang 蘇貞昌.

Dissidents were tried in military courts which often handed down heavy sentences for even the simplest of cases. Many political prisoners never got a chance to meet their families again.

Unfortunately, many were even sentenced to Green Island 綠島 which was extremely inaccessible. Prisoners sentenced to the island had to perform hard labor in extreme weather conditions. Green Island's terrain wasn't ideal so the prisoners were basically forced to build their own prison compound. Prior to visiting the complex, I had no idea that some prisoners were sent all the way to Green Island.

To remember the past, the Human Rights Museum has also opened a branch on Green Island.

It was a heavy day learning about Taiwan's dark history. It's sad, but it really makes us appreciate the democracy we have nowadays.

I visited in November of 2020. It isn't too hard to get to. You can take the MRT to Jingmei Station 景美站 and walk roughly 20 minutes and you can take the new Circular Line 環狀線 (like I did) and get off at Shisizhang Station 十四張站. Walk along the Xindian River 新店溪 for roughly 10 minutes and you'll get to your destination. The museum is free to visit. 

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