National Human Rights Museum holds White Terror Memorial Day ceremony

Taipei, May 19 (CNA) Taiwan's National Human Rights Museum (NHRM) held a ceremony Monday on White Terror Memorial Day, marking the 76th anniversary of the Chiang Kai-shek-led Kuomintang government's declaration of martial law in 1949.

The day he marks the start of the White Terror period of Taiwanese history, a "four-decade period of repressive rule" that saw thousands "arrested, interrogated, charged, tried, imprisoned, and even executed by intelligence agencies," according to the NHRM website.

Speaking at the event held at the Jing-mei White Terror Memorial Park in New Taipei, Culture Minister Li Yuan (李遠) said May 19 is a date that "must not be forgotten" by Taiwanese people.

"So many people died. Why can't we face it together and let this incident become the start of peace?" Li said.

"The more we cannot face it, the more this hatred will never be resolved," the minister said.

Also speaking at the ceremony, Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Mark Ho Chih-wei (何志偉) said the White Terror is "an inerasable memory in the democratic history of both Taiwan and the world."

Ho added that he regularly takes visiting foreign guests from the Presidential Office to the nearby Memorial to the Victims of the White Terror located in the northwest corner of Jieshou Park.

"The monument reminds everyone that history cannot be forgotten and must be protected and passed on by every generation," Ho said.

Minister without Portfolio Lin Ming-hsin (林明昕) said that remembrance is "an important pillar of transitional justice and crucial to maintaining the resilience of democracy."

More than 100 people attended the ceremony, including National Human Rights Museum Director Hung Shih-fang (洪世芳), and family members of political victims.

The event included a dramatization of victim experiences and readings of names, along with a recitation of the "519 Prayer of Remembrance" written by White Terror victim Chen Lieh (陳列).

At the end of the ceremony, guests laid flowers at the monument in tribute to the victims.

White Terror Memorial Day was formally established in April 2024 under the Democratic Progressive Party administration led by then-President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).