Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park

The Jing-Mei site in Xindian, New Taipei City, was a detention and military-court complex central to Taiwan's White Terror, the long period of authoritarian repression under martial law from 1949 to 1987. Originally connected to a military justice school, the compound housed military tribunals, detention cells and holding areas where thousands of people accused of political offences were tried, imprisoned and in some cases sentenced to death. It was here that many prominent dissidents were processed, including defendants in the 1980 Kaohsiung Incident trial, making the site a focal point of Taiwan's confrontation with its authoritarian past.

As a place of interrogation, imprisonment and injustice, the courtrooms and cells leave a strong impression, and visitors occasionally describe an uneasy stillness in the detention blocks. Such feelings are personal responses to a site of documented suffering and are treated only as anecdote; the memorial park deliberately foregrounds human-rights history and survivor testimony rather than any ghostly reputation.

Now the Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park under the National Human Rights Museum, the site preserves the courtrooms, cells and barracks as evidence and as a place of education. Its genuine value lies in remembering the victims of political persecution and in supporting reflection on justice, freedom and democracy.

The Jing-Mei White Terror Memorial Park is operated by the National Human Rights Museum and is open to the public, generally with free admission and both self-guided and pre-booked guided tours; it usually closes on Mondays. Visitors can walk through the preserved military courtrooms, detention areas and exhibition spaces that document the martial-law era.

As a memorial to victims of political persecution, the park asks for respectful, reflective conduct, and some content may be emotionally heavy. Travellers should confirm current opening hours and tour arrangements through the museum, which also offers educational programmes and archives for those wishing to learn more.