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Green Island White Terror Memorial Park

Walking into the Memory of White Terror

In those years,
How many mothers
Wept at night
For their children
In bonds on this island?

Setting foot on the Burning Island, and listen to the whispering waves. Try to understand the feeling of isolation, the confinement of body and soul.
The 32-hectare plot in the northeast corner of the Green Island, isolated on the sea, was Vagrants Shelter during Japanese colonial rule; and it became a major prison in the White Terror period immediately after the KMT regime was exiled to Taiwan in 1949. New Life Correction Center and Oasis Villa were set to confine political prisoners. When martial law was lifted, it became Green Island Prison under the Ministry of Justice and then the military’s moral training center for offenders.

Far-flung Green Island

Green Island, once known as the Burning Island, is 33 kilometers from the main island of Taiwan and is 16 square kilometers. It was inhabited over 4,000 years ago by prehistoric humans, then renamed Green Island in 1949, and administered by Taitung County. Chinese from Taiwan and Hsiao Liu Qiu Island settled some 200 years ago, forming Gongguan, Zhongliao, Nanliao, Wenquan, and Liumagou settlements.

Prison Island Dangling Souls

Green Island hosted the Burning Island Vagrants Shelter during Japanese rule, New Life Correction Center in the 1950s, Oasis Villa for political prisoners during Taiwan's authoritarian regime, and it was still a prison island after the lifting of martial law. Now it is a relic of history and the site of Green Island White Terror Memorial Park. Walking into the historical sites and standing in the worn buildings, one's heart beats to the rhythm of the rising and falling waves.

Preserve Relics Human Rights Tour

Green Island White Terror Memorial Park used to be a prison for political prisoners. This past makes it a “negative tourism” site that induces reflection on human values. Visiting this park, people from home and abroad enjoy its natural setting but witness Taiwan’s hard road to democracy.

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