Green Island
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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, commonly referred to as the "White Terror". The last political prisoners left as late as in 1990. Today the complex is part of the White Terror Human Rights Museum. It’s well worth the effort to visit this remote site.
More background info: Green Island owes its existence to an undersea volcanic eruption, which may explain its older name that translates into English as “Fire Island”, “Burnt/Burning Island” or “Fire-Scorched Island” presumably for the black and reddish colours of the volcanic rocks; although another theory claims it’s because the islanders used to light fires to help fishing vessels navigate.
The name was officially changed to Green Island in 1949, yet it is no less apt, given that the island’s interior hills are covered in a thick layer of tropical forest. Locally, the island is also called Lyudao/Ludao/Lüdao (as usual in Taiwan, transliterations vary a lot).
The island has long been inhabited, originally probably by Austronesian people, whereas today it’s mostly Han Chinese. The main population centres are on the west and north-west coast, less so in the south, and the rugged east coast is only very sparsely populated. There are coral reefs around the island, and these form the main attraction for visitors these days – you can see loads of scuba-diving businesses on the island. Sea turtles can often be spotted along Green Island’s coast and coral reefs – but turtles are no longer hunted. Nor are the island’s famously big coconut crabs that can weigh over 2 lbs (1kg) eaten any more and are a protected species now. Inland there’s also a population of spotted deer, introduced to the island in the 1970s – and venison does feature on many a restaurant menu here (alongside seafood, including flying fish!).
And then there’s the very dark association: from as early as 1951, almost right from the onset of the “White Terror” and the Chiang Kai-shek dictatorship (see Taiwan history and Jing-Mei), Green Island was used as a prison island for political opponents.
Near the north-eastern tip of the island a prison camp called “New Life Correction Center” was established for incarceration and “re-education” of dissidents. The name is an allusion to the “New Life Movement”, a kind of neo-Confucian ideological campaign launched in the 1930s by Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek intended to propagate social reform and Chinese unity. Here on Green Island this took on a sinister, cynical turn, as prisoners did indeed face a new sort of life, one of hardship and indoctrination. There was also a “Third Vocational Training Regiment”.
The complex was practically a concentration camp and inmates, housed in simple barracks, had to do hard manual labour, mostly in agriculture/farming and breaking coral rocks for building material. In fact some early buildings still in existence were made by using coral rocks. Others were wooden barracks. Inmates had to attend “re-education” classes and even had to perform in Chinese operas and plays with a (pro-nationalist) political content.
In 1965, prisoners were transferred in several groups to a prison in Taitung County called Taiyuan (not to be confused with the Japanese camp of the same name on the Chinese mainland during WWII). But political prisoners were soon to be back on Green Island:
In February 1970, political prisoners organized a rebellion at Taiyuan prison, for which they also recruited a large number of prison guards. The rebellion ultimately failed, a few prisoners managed to escape but were soon recaptured. The leaders of the uprising and the guard collaborators were subsequently severely punished, several sentenced to death and others to long prison terms. It was a rare incident of armed rebellion during the martial law period in Taiwan.
In response to this “Taiyuan Incident”, the authorities decided to build a new high-security political prison next to the former New Life Correction Center on Green Island. This new prison started operating in 1972 and those prisoners who had taken part in the rebellion were transferred here – alongside further political prisoners.
This new prison became known under the name “Oasis Villa”, which does indeed seem utterly Orwellian. How that name came about, however, I haven’t been able to find out. Its origin remains rather obscure – was it indeed cynicism on the authorities’ part, or maybe prisoners’ sarcasm? Officially the facility was designated the mouthful “National Defence Green Island Reform and Re-education Prison”. This new prison’s main building consists of four cell tracts on two floors with a total of 113 cells. The four wings branch out from a central hexagonal observation core (a common modern prison layout). Hence the building has a footprint that forms a somewhat skewed cross. This structure is sometimes referred to as “Eight-Sided Building or “Bagua Building”.
Most cells were communal cells, often for over a dozen inmates each, with shared simple lavatory facilities (without much privacy) and not much else. A separate building also had a number of additional solitary confinement cells. Outside were exercise yards of different sizes where inmates were allowed to spend short periods in the open air.
In addition there was a high wall surrounding the whole compound, with watchtowers in the corners and a single main gate, kitchen and storage facilities and the administrative block. Attached to the latter was the relatives meeting room.
After martial law ended in 1987, the “Oasis Villa” facility was gradually shut down. The last political prisoner is said to have left the island as late as in May 1990.
In 1991 the former “Third Vocational Training Regiment” buildings were rebranded Green Island Vocational Center and a military training unit briefly used the facility too (today part of the complex is home to the Green Island Marine Research Station, while the rest is abandoned).
In the years after Oasis Villa prison was closed, some former inmates, including Shih Ming-teh, one of the most prominent dissidents of Taiwan (see also under Jing-Mei), campaigned for the preservation of the site as a memorial, and in 1998 an official recommendation to that effect was passed by legislators. Work on the transformation of the former prison into a memorial museum began in 2000.
The year before the purpose-built new main Human Rights Monument to the west of Oasis Villa was inaugurated in December 1999.
A first exhibition at Oasis Villa opened in December 2002 and an inaugural ceremony was held. After a series of handovers to various administrative bodies and a number of name changes and an official listing of Oasis Villa as a historical site, the National Human Rights Museum was inaugurated in 2018, which also includes Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park. The counterpart here on the island was similarly designated “Green Island White Terror Memorial Park”.
Meanwhile there have been efforts to get the memorial complex listed as a World Heritage Site comparable to Robben Island or the A-Bomb Dome in Hiroshima, all of which constitute similar “negative heritage”. I would say such a World Heritage status would be justified.
What there is to see: quite a bit and there’s a lot of ground to be covered.
I started at Oasis Villa, worked my way eastwards to the remainder of the complex and the end of the road, then returned and walked past Oasis Villa onwards to the Memorial Monument – but you are of course free to do it in whatever order you like.
Even before you go inside the museum you can see a number of open-air information panels. All of these are bilingual in Chinese and with English underneath or next to it. The quality of the translations varies, some are more or less OK-ish, others rather flawed, with missing words, grammatical errors, spelling mistakes and weird punctuation. Unfortunately this is a common state of affairs in Taiwan. I wish they’d value translation quality more and would invest properly in it (see also under Jing-Mei – though the English in that place is generally rather better than it is here).
The first port of call at Oasis Villa is the reception centre in the former prison’s administrative block. There’s no admission fee to be paid, but you can pick up some leaflets/maps.
The circuit then goes through the admin block’s courtyard to reach the much larger main exercise yard inside the complex proper. To the side of the administrative block is the visitor room. Here you can see the usual telephones in front of a thick glass panel separating relatives from prisoners during visits. Later you can also see this from the prisoners’ side (looking identical).
Crossing the exercise yard with its fading sports field markings you come to the Auditorium. This is where inmates had to attend lectures intended to “re-educate” them, i.e. they were experiments in thought control. Today the hall is lined with panels outlining the history of Green Island and its political prisons (see above). The English translations here are a bit better than on the outdoor panels.
To the east of the auditorium is the main cell block building (“Bagua Building”). Along the facade are slogans in Chinese characters. They are not translated here but I’ve been told by an American tour guide in Taiwan that these are anti-communist/pro-KMT propagandistic messages for the prisoners, in line with the "re-education" mission the facility pursued.
Inside the building you can explore the cell tracts and even enter a few cells. They are mostly bare, but a couple have been “peopled” by two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs of prisoners as they whiled away their time, reading, playing games, or just sitting or standing about. It’s a bit crude, but does give a good impression of the dire life the prisoners lived and the lack of privacy. There was just one tiled lavatory area in a corner with a single squat toilet and a hose for water. There was no furniture of any kind – except in one cell where there were two tables with reading lamps and various objects on them, including figurines and some models. But I could not work out their significance. One cell had some kind of art installation in it, with writing on a wall about various forms of torture. The cells on the upper floors are mostly single-occupancy cells – and there are also a few padded cells.
There are several information panels in the cell tracts too – and the quality of the English varies quite a bit here, while some are more or less OK, others are again rather flawed, occasionally to the point of bordering on the incomprehensible. Several are about individual stories of particular inmates, including those of the longest serving prisoner (over 34 years) and of the last prisoner to leave Green Island in May 1990.
There was also one wing that I found locked. The exhibition inside is called “Restoration Exhibition of the Open Prison Cell at Oasis Villa” … I could only make out part of the first info panel behind the locked barred door mentioning laundry work … so it’s probably about something akin to the “day labourer inmates” at Jing-Mei. I presume this section was undergoing some refurbishment work or so and was closed because of that. But there was no sign giving an explanation.
Back outside you can check out the prison walls – some have paintings on them, both old and new(er), with more propagandistic slogans but also just decorative images of trees, for instance. On the edge of the main exercise yard stands a marble monument entitled “Hope”, as a short plaque states. It also tries to explain the alleged symbolism in the monument which you would otherwise never have detected.
To the west of the auditorium is a block with solitary confinement cells. They are bleak and small, but at least have proper flush-toilets. Again there’s also a padded cell here. The kitchen and storage blocks were not accessible when I visited (in December 2023), nor was the “Special Observation and Medical Room” block.
You have to exit Oasis Villa through the reception centre/former administrative block. To the east of that block is one more, single-storey building. This houses a kind of museum shop selling books, brochures and artwork. But, being a bit pressed for time, I gave it a miss.
Instead I proceeded eastwards along the road and outside of the prison walls. One old section is made from coral rocks. The prisoners themselves had to break the rocks and build the wall out of them that then kept them inside. Further along, the wall is made from concrete and again features numerous Chinese characters, presumably standing for yet more propaganda messages.
Through a gate with another slogan over it you then enter the compound that was the New Life Correction Center, the older part of the political prison complex here (see above). In the centre of the square inside stands a monument with a bust of Chiang Kai-shek from the early 1980s.
In addition there is a building in the far south-western corner which was the prison infirmary but is off limits to visitors. Next to it are a number of unspecified extra buildings. But I did not go there.
A large two-storey modern building in the centre of the compound was supposed to be home to a large 50:1 scale model of the entire New Life Correction Center complex as well as an additional exhibition, but at the time of my visit this block was closed. There was a sign on the locked door, but in Chinese only, so I could not work out why it was closed and when it might reopen. Through the door and a window I was able to peek in and saw some white prisoner dummies and text panels saying something about “re-education” and “Devil’s Gate”, but that was as much as I was able to make out.
To the north of this block are some ruins of what apparently used to be the commissary of the complex back in the day. Furthermore there was a ruin marked by a panel as a former photography shop. The open-air panels in this part were in a bad state when I visited, browned and cracked from the scorching sunlight rendering the text barely legible.
Through an opening in a partition wall with a sentry point you then come to the main preserved part of the New Life Correction Center. To the right stands a surviving old barrack made from rough-hewn coral rock, of which there used to be many more. This surviving building was used at one point for officer meetings, later it served as a reading room for inmates. Another part was an early medical centre, yet another a school.
To the east of this, are the camp’s kitchen barracks, half-open to the elements, with a few cooking implements still in place. In the far corner behind these is a prominent guard watchtower/pillbox bunker overlooking the compound.
Towards the northern end is a set of four barracks; these are the preserved quarters of the “Third Battalion”. The New Life Correction Center divided the prisoners into three groups called “battalions” with four “squadrons” each. This set is the sole surviving one and contains the main exhibition of this part of Green Island.
The block from which the four barracks branch off has a reception desk, a row of workstations with screens, several info panels, a historical oil painting of the site, as well as various wall paintings. At the southern end is a large blow-up photo of a re-education assembly class with rows of tiny little stools in front of it, of the sort the prisoners had to sit on during such sessions.
One barrack contains a kind of monument with portrait photos of former political prisoners. Behind the monument are a couple of benches in front of a large flat-screen showing some video footage.
Another barrack has a small exhibition featuring a few artefacts. The most remarkable of these, I found, is a violin made by a prisoner utilizing materials such as wood from a shipwreck and wire from a discarded electric cable for strings. It looks like an ordinary violin – I wonder if it sounded like one too. There are other artefacts, but this one stood out! In addition there are more panels as well as paintings and drawings showing scenes from the prison and Green Island in general.
Yet another barrack sports life-size diorama reconstructions showing inmates at work, at a farm, in a pigsty and breaking coral rock. More panels try to explain the various methods of re-education employed as well as the forms of labour. There’s also another screen featuring an interview with a former inmate. This one has English subtitles.
The fourth and final barrack contains a life-size reconstruction of the living quarters of inmates, complete with dummy prisoners spread out over the two-tier bunk beds, sitting around, reading, and one playing a guitar.
On exiting the Third Battalion barracks you then have to head north and through another gate, with two watchtowers by its side, one at ground level, another atop the outer prison wall. The latter can be climbed by means of stairs leading up on the outside of the prison wall. From the top you get good views over the prison complex to the one side and the coast and ocean to the other.
Proceeding further east along the outside of the prison wall you soon come to yet another gate. This was the “Revolution Gate”. It was through this gate that inmates passed whose “re-education”/“reform” was deemed successful and who had thus “joined” the nationalist KMT’s “revolution”. The present Revolution Gate is a reconstruction from 2008, though.
Behind this gate lie the sections of the complex that do not form part of the Green Island White Terror Memorial Park. It’s the former Vocational Training Regiment quarters, part of which now house a marine research institute.
The prison walls continue further east still, with yet more watchtowers/sentry points. The road turns into a dirt track and bit further down this track you pass a lone concrete pillbox bunker outside the prison wall. The information panel next to it was so badly eroded that the English part was half gone and the rest barely legible.
Soon after you come to the final watchtower atop the easternmost corner of the former prison walls. Beyond this the dirt track continues further east to take you to the prison complex’s cemetery. This was informally referred to as the “13th Squadron”. Remember, the prisoners were divided up into three battalions with four squadrons each, i.e. 12 squadrons in total. This was the “extra” one for the dead.
The path then ends at a rocky beach at the end of which is the so-called Swallow Cave. This is a natural sea cave which back in the New Life Correction Center days was used as a stage where inmates had to perform political plays, obviously controlled by the prison authorities. The cave was also used to cremate dead prisoners.
This is the end of the road, literally, and from here you can only turn back, all the way along the outer prison walls and watchtowers and back to Oasis Villa. Continuing further west brings you to the 1999 Human Rights Memorial Monument. By going down the stairs to the rear you can reach the central hall with about a thousand names of victims of the political repression during the White Terror, together with their years of imprisonment, engraved on the walls. Not all names are of former prisoners on Green Island, though, e.g. that of former vice president Annette Lu, who was actually imprisoned at Jing-Mei. The rest of the monument is more abstract.
That completes the circuit through the Green Island White Terror Memorial Park and from here you have to hike all the way back to the airport or harbour – unless you manage to hitch a lift or have a hired scooter. I was not so lucky this time and had to walk all the way, passing interesting shops and boats and artworks along the way, so I don’t regret the extra effort.
All in all, this is without a doubt one of the top dark-tourism attractions in the whole of Taiwan, together with the more easily accessible Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park in southern Taipei and perhaps the 9-21 Earthquake Museum near Taichung. It’s more of an effort getting here but well worth it. The commodification may be a bit flawed here and there, but the cell tracts of the Oasis Villa alone are well worth coming here for.
Location: Green Island lies off the east coast of Taiwan, ca. 21 miles (34 km) from Taitung. The prison/memorial complex is on the island’s north-eastern coast ca. 2.5 miles (4 km) to the east of the airport.
Google Maps locators:
Main memorial monument: [22.6755, 121.4945]
Oasis Villa visitor centre/entrance: [22.6751, 121.4962]
Main prison cell block (Bagua Building): [22.6745, 121.4965]
New Life Correction Center: [22.6748, 121.4993]
Climbable watchtower: [22.6753, 121.4993]
Revolution Gate: [22.67543, 121.49999]
Pillbox bunker: [22.67599, 121.50218]
Cemetery: [22.6766, 121.5041]
Airport: [22.6725, 121.4673]
Harbour: [22.6601, 121.4743]
Access and costs: remote, requiring a domestic flight or ferry crossing, and lots of walking to/from and at the sites; admission to the memorial sites is free, but transport costs have to be factored in.
Details: To get to Green Island from Taitung it’s best to use the air service provided by Daily Air Corporation who operate three flights to Green Island and back per day out of Taitung Airport (reached from the city centre by bus or taxi). There’s usually one set of flights early in the morning, one midday and one in the afternoon. Flying time is only ca. 15 minutes one way. I had tickets organized by the domestic tour company I used (see under Taiwan in general, >practicalities), as part of a wider package of arrangements, so I don’t know exactly how much the tickets cost, but it wasn’t a massive addition, if I remember correctly. The planes are small and only have so many seats available to non-island-residents, so it’s wise to have these booked well ahead of time. In adverse weather, especially in winter, flights are sometimes disrupted and even cancelled, so a degree of flexibility will also be helpful.
Alternatively there is a ferry operating out of Fugang harbour to the north of Taitung. In high season there are several crossings a day (which take ca. 50 mins each way), but in low season there may be only one, thus requiring an overnight stay on the island. Rough seas and high winds can also mean ferry crossings have to be cancelled too at short notice.
On balance, the plane seems to be the much better option. I did it as a day return, getting the midday flight out and the last, afternoon flight back. It was winter, but there were no high winds, just a bit of rain, so it all worked out just fine.
For getting around on Green Island itself and to the memorial sites and back, you may have to walk it all, ca. 2.5 miles (4 km each way). There is no public transport and no taxis. The main means of transport other than walking is by scooter. You can rent these if you plan ahead. People with mobility issues are at clear disadvantage here!
Theoretically there’s also supposed to be a sightseeing bus serving a circular route around the island, but that would be of limited use for people just wanting to visit the ex-prison memorial complex. The bus schedules change frequently and it would be pot luck to catch one for the journey from the airport/harbour to the site and then another for the way back. I never saw any sign of the bus while I was there.
When I went to Green Island, I had banked on taxis and when we found out that there were none, my wife and I just started to walk. Fortunately a local women in a car stopped, had mercy on us and drove us all the way to Oasis Villa. But for the way back we had to walk the full distance, in the drizzle of the day (but at least that’s better than in the blazing sun when there’s no shade en route). Directions are simple: just follow the single ring road heading east from the airport, or if you come by ferry, first walk northbound along the main road from the harbour to the airport (this adds just under a mile/1.5 km walking distance) and then proceed east. Just stay on the road until you come to the memorial on the left and a bit further on the other sites are to the right of the road.
If you want to stay overnight on the island there are several accommodation options, and also plenty of eateries for food & drink, in particular in the main village around the harbour on the west coast of the island. Don’t expect much English to be spoken. Better have arrangements made by a domestic operator/agency.
Time required: I had four and a half hours on Green Island in total, which was just enough for getting to the ex-prison memorial complex, a good look around, and the walk back to the airport with a little time spare for some refreshments before the flight back to the mainland. If you want to do it more leisurely and also take in some of the non-dark attractions on Green Island it may be better to plan for an overnight stay or two before flying or getting the ferry back.
Combinations with other dark destinations: Not accessible to the general public, but perhaps of marginal dark interest en route to/from the Human Rights Memorial Park is the presence of an operational high-security prison for regular criminals, allegedly also housing some high-level Mafiosi. Simply called “Lyudao Prison”, it’s also the main employer on the island. You can see the main gate to the south from the ring road ca. 0.7 miles (1.1 km) from the airport (or 1.6 miles/2.6 km from Oasis Villa), but it’s probably best not to venture any closer.
Other than that see under Taiwan in general.
Combinations with non-dark destinations: The island is a non-dark destination for its scenic appeal, ranging from coastal and mountain walks to scuba diving off the coral reefs that ring its coast. Green Island also features a few atmospheric caves and some hot springs. Hence most visitors stay longer. At times in high season it can even get crowded, but mostly with domestic tourists.
On a clear day the west coast of the island offers grand views of the mountains of the east side of the main island of Taiwan.
