Green Island
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UPDATE: I've recently been on a trip to Taiwan during which I also visited Green Island. A full-length chapter will eventually replace this older stub entry. Please be patient and check again later. A full new photo gallery has already been uploaded. ---------------------------
A small, lush, tropical island off the south-east coast of Taiwan that from 1951 was used as a place of incarceration for political prisoners during the Chiang-Kai-shek dictatorship and beyond. The last political prisoners left as late as in 1990. (There’s still a high-security prison for regular criminals on the island, allegedly also housing some high-level Mafiosi.)
Today there is a large memorial park in the north of the island and the political prison building with the Orwellian name “Oasis Villa”, built in 1970 after a prisoner uprising, can be visited. Its four wings on two floors house 52 cells. Inside is an exhibition about the former political prison regime. Labels and texts are also given in English.
The island can be reached either by ferry in 50 minutes from Fugang, just north of Taitung, or by small aircraft from Taitung Airport in 12 minutes. Both make it possible to do Green Island as a day excursion but if you also want to make use of the island’s hot springs and the excellent snorkelling and scuba diving opportunities you can find accommodation on Green Island.
The open-air parts of the Green Island White Terror Memorial Park are freely accessible at all times, the museum in the former Oasis Villa political prison is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., admission is free.
Google Maps locator: [22.6747, 121.4965]
Green Island would have been a key destination on my planned 2020 trip to Taiwan I was forced to cancel because of the coronavirus pandemic, and still couldn’t do in 2021 or 2022. But I am now planning to go to Taiwan at the end of 2023. If I manage to include Green Island on that trip then this chapter will be properly expanded and a full description provided. For now this short stub has to stand in.
