Taipei: Taiwan’s National Human Rights Museum (NHRM) held a solemn ceremony on Monday to mark White Terror Memorial Day, commemorating the 76th anniversary of the martial law declaration by Chiang Kai-shek’s Kuomintang government in 1949.

According to Focus Taiwan, this day signifies the onset of the White Terror period in Taiwanese history, a repressive era spanning four decades during which thousands were subjected to arrest, interrogation, charges, trials, imprisonment, and even execution by intelligence agencies. The ceremony took place at the Jing-mei White Terror Memorial Park in New Taipei, where Culture Minister Li Yuan emphasized the importance of remembering May 19 as a pivotal date for the Taiwanese people. Li urged for a collective facing of this painful history as a step towards peace, warning that unresolved hatred would persist otherwise.

Presidential Office Deputy Secretary-General Mark Ho Chih-wei, also present at the ceremony, described the White Terror as an unforgettable chapter in Taiwan’s democratic history and beyond. Ho mentioned that he often escorts foreign visitors from the Presidential Office to the nearby Memorial to the Victims of the White Terror in Jieshou Park, underscoring the monument’s role in ensuring history is remembered and preserved across generations.

Minister without Portfolio Lin Ming-hsin highlighted the significance of remembrance in transitional justice and the sustenance of democratic resilience. The event drew over 100 attendees, including National Human Rights Museum Director Hung Shih-fang and relatives of political victims. The ceremony featured dramatizations of victim experiences, name readings, and the recitation of the “519 Prayer of Remembrance,” authored by White Terror victim Chen Lieh. The ceremony concluded with guests laying flowers at the monument to honor the victims.

White Terror Memorial Day was officially established in April 2024 during the Democratic Progressive Party administration led by then-President Tsai Ing-wen.