Documentary film director J.C. Hung (
In 1950, Hung's parents were arrested on insurrection charges for their alleged involvement with the Chinese communist spy Yu Fei (
Hung, however, says his parents were guilty only of attending what they thought was an educational seminar offered by the then Taiwan Provincial Government.
Hung's father and mother were later sentenced to 13 years and 10 years in prison respectively.
Hung's mother gave birth during her imprisonment and he spent the first five years of his life in prison. He was then sent to live with his grandmother.
Hung's parents were released in the 1960s, but it was then that his own persecution began.
Hung's grandmother passed away soon after and his family was forced to move seven times in the next 10 or so years as his parents' prison records made it difficult for them to find employment. The police also made frequent visits and made things difficult for the family.
Hung's mother died of cancer in 1996 and his father passed away the following year. Hung himself suffers from claustrophobia and finds it difficult to travel.
In 2002, Hung decided to embark on a film career after working as a journalist for more than 20 years. He assisted Juan Mei-shu (阮美姝), whose father was spirited away by intelligence officers in 1947 and officially reported as "missing" for 50 years, in producing six documentary films based on her interviews with 40 people affected by the White Terror period.
He also documented the establishment of 228 monuments after Feb. 28 was declared a national holiday.
However, Hung has long thought about making a documentary based on his personal experiences.
"As a child, my mother would burn my journals whenever she saw passages mentioning her and my father's time in prison. She was worried that we would get into trouble again," he said.
Documents related to the Yu Fei case had been classified along with others related to the 228 Incident, and when these were declassified Hung found new motivation to complete his film.
The documents only confirmed Hung's suspicions.
Hung found that Chiang Kai-shek (
Moreover, Hung said that Chiang did not pardon any individual whose file he reviewed. Instead, he extended their sentences.
Hung also discovered that prosecutors and judges had used pseudonyms for fear that family members would seek revenge.
"Writer Bo Yang (柏楊) was not exaggerating when he described mothers crying about their children who were doing time on Green Island (綠島)," Hung said in his documentary Blind Night (暗夜哭聲). "For each White Terror victim there was a crying mother during the rule of the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT]."
Hung said he had chosen not to share too many of his recollections with his children.
"The more they know, the more they suffer," he said.
Hung's quest for closure continues and he said the KMT should make an official apology and compensate the relatives of White Terror victims.
He also criticized the government's approach to the issue, saying the 228 Foundation simply issued meaningless certificates.
"If they [the officials at the foundation] could read the files and understand them the way I did, they would do more than just send out notices," he said.
SEND A MESSAGE: Sinking the amphibious assault ship, the lead warship of its class, is meant to show China the US Navy is capable of sinking their ships, an analyst said The US and allied navies plan to sink a 40,000-tonne ship at the latest Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) exercise to simulate defeating a Chinese amphibious assault on Taiwan. This year’s RIMPAC — the 29th iteration of the world’s largest naval exercise — involves the US, 28 partners, more than 25,000 personnel, 40 warships, three submarines and more than 150 aircraft operating in and around Hawaii from yesterday to Aug. 1, the US Navy said in a press release. The major components of the event include multidomain warfare exercises in multiship surface engagements, anti-submarine warfare and multi-axis defense of a carrier strike
Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China when traveling in countries with close ties to Beijing, Taiwan Association of University Professors deputy chairman Chen Li-fu (陳俐甫) said on Friday. Chen’s comments came after China on Friday last week announced new judicial guidelines targeting Taiwanese independence advocates. Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Djibouti are among the countries where Taiwanese could risk being extradited to China, he said. The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday elevated the travel alert for China, Hong Kong and Macau to “orange” after Beijing announced its guidelines to “severely punish Taiwanese independence diehards for splitting the country and inciting secession.” Extradition treaties
The airspace around Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) is to be closed for an hour on July 25 and July 23 respectively, due to the Han Kuang military exercises, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday. The annual exercise is to be held on Taiwan proper and its outlying islands from July 22 to 26. During last year’s exercise, the military conducted anti-aircraft landing drills at the Taoyuan airport for the first time, for which a one-hour no-fly ban was issued. Based on a live-fire bulletin sent out by the Maritime and Port Bureau, the nation’s
CROSS-BORDER CRIME: The suspects cannot be charged with cybercrime in Indonesia as their targets were in Malaysia, an Indonesian immigration director said Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese after a raid at a villa on Bali, officials said yesterday. They were accused of misusing their visas and residence permits, and are suspected of possible cybercrimes, Safar Muhammad Godam, director of immigration supervision and enforcement at the Indonesian Ministry of Law and Human Rights told reporters at a news conference. “The 103 foreign nationals stayed at the villa and conducted suspicious activities, which we suspect are activities related to cybercrime activities,” he said, presenting laptops and routers at the news conference. Godam said Indonesian authorities cannot charge them with conducting cybercrime. “During the inspection, we