1950s Part 1: Bandit spies

The 1950s in Taiwan was a time when children heard from their playmates or classmates, something about so-and-so's dad or mom had "disappeared" overnight - all too naive to know what was going on. The entire White Terror period actually started in 1947. In the ensuing years, Taiwanese, even mainland Chinese suspected of being Communists were imprisoned in 綠島 (below, source: here) or worse.

Re-education camps on Green Island with ca 1,450 detainees

Anti-brain washing classes, 5/29/1954

The original United Press caption

This in part had extended from the 228 Incident in which Taiwanese Communists had played a limited role. To complicate the matter further, beginning in 1949, there was also a huge influx of Chinese Communists known as Bandit Spies (匪諜) who were often caught and executed.

The martial law officially ended in 1987. Whether it was a draconian measure or it had saved Taiwan from the CCP remains contested. We do know the wars with the CCP were real, some of us actually served in the front lines. Nonetheless, its far-reaching human right violation still casts a long shadow even today.

In remembrance of the victims of the 228 Incident, there is the 228 Memorial Park in Taipei; nothing tangible, however, has been established for non-Communist victims of the White Terror era. In contrast, in China, the XiShan Memorial Square of Unknown Heroes finally acknowledges presence of its spy assets in Taiwan:

京華時報 5/26/2014: "1949年，包括時任國民黨國防部參謀次長吳石在內的1500多名中國大陸紅色特工遠赴台灣，之後這個群體犧牲過千...。在過去很長一段歲月裏，這些人中的大部分連名字都沒留下來。"In 1949, about 1,500 secret agents from Red China infiltrated Taiwan, including Wu-Shi who worked under the cover as a vice-chief of the planning staff of KMT DoD. Over 1,000 lost their lives without even leaving their names behind."

"直至2013年末北京西山無名英雄紀念廣場建成，846個當年犧牲於台灣的烈士英名被刻在紀念牆上。這是官方第一次以紀念廣場的形式公開紀念1950年代在台灣犧牲的中共地下工作者。“"It was not until late 2013 that the West Mountain Memorial Square for the Unknown Heroes in Beijing was built. The names of 846 martyrs who lost their lives in Taiwan are engraved on the memorial walls. This is the first ever official commemoration of CCP secret agents who died in Taiwan in the 1950s."

The name list of the secret agents and that of unclaimed ashes both were first disclosed on Jan 23, 2011 by 《環球時報》 in its 《追尋在台中共特工遺骨始末為兩岸和平種善因》 and again on May 4, 《台灣戒嚴時期疑似政治受難者名冊》. Both dates are significant on ROC calendar, 1/23 is the Freedom Day and 5/4 the Student Movement Day. The unclaimed cremation urns appear still stored in the warehouse of Taipei Funeral Home today. It is not possible to identify each one as many came to Taiwan using false identities.

Some of those from Taiwan were sent to Green Island for "re-education" simply because they were caught, usually in small groups, studying books on Communism out of intellectual curiosity. Among those Chinese who arrived in Taiwan in 1949, many were falsely accused by their personal enemies often anonymously. And some were charged with the flimsiest evidence. A well-known example was that of a radio personality 崔小萍; her alleged treasonous crime originated in a mention in passing of a certain communist in her childhood diary. Interrogated night and day for 3 months, imprisoned in 1968, and released in 1977, she finally published a memoir 碎夢集 (Shattered Dreams) in 2010.

Case-files of others are now beginning to be released to clear the name of those haplessly caught in the dragnet and compensation finally paid to the wrongly imprisoned.