The Ministry of Culture launched a new book on Tuesday to commemorate Taiwan's White Terror period, an era in which hundreds of thousands of political dissidents and other civilians were persecuted by the central government.
The Chinese-language book, titled 'The Sad Calls of the Autumn Cicada,' is a collection of 18 stories written by victims and their families, as well as articles based on interviews with them.
The book documents the victims' lives and the suffering they endured in prison, as well as the pain of those whose relatives vanished, were imprisoned or killed during the White Terror period from 1949-1987.
Culture Minister Lung Ying-tai said that although she was a child at the time and did not have access to information about the White Terror, she has memories of teachers going missing and people disappearing at night.
The pain of the victims and their families is 'irreparable' regardless of the efforts by later governments to make up for the loss, Lung said at the launch of the 360-page book.
President Ma Ying-jeou has made repeated public apologies on behalf of the country for the government's wrongdoings during the White Terror period.
One of the 15 contributors who attended the book launch, Tsai Kun-lin, 83, said police snatched him from his home one day and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, although he had done nothing wrong.
He was not a 'revolution fighter,' just a timid 19-year-old who 'liked to read,' he said, but he was able to endure prison with the support of other inmates because he and other prisoners often sang to pass the time and lift their spirits.
Liu Chen-tan, 76, said he was sentenced to prison after being falsely accused of involvement in two bombings in 1970. He spent his time in prison painting and practicing calligraphy, using the bathroom doors as easels and producing close to 500 paintings in prison.
At the book launch, Huang Chun-lan, whose father was a victim of the White Terror, urged the government to stop commemorating the likes of late President Chiang Kai-shek. She also urged officials to change the name of the National Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall to White Terror Memorial Hall, and use the hall to exhibit items such as court verdicts.
Regarding Huang's suggestion to rename the hall, Lung replied that the timing is not right for discussing any renaming of the hall, which she said would require a consensus of society.