Kinmen's 43 Years Under Martial Law Recounted in New Education Program

Taiwan's Ministry of Education has launched the sixth episode of its "补课了没？" (Did You Finish Your Homework?) series, focusing on Kinmen's 43-year history under martial law. Titled "Kinmen Under Martial Law: Stories of the Wartime Island," the episode uses visuals, guided readings, and extended content to revisit the island's martial law and wartime administrative period.

The program aims to help the public understand this historical phase and reflect on the importance of freedom, human rights, and democratic values. Kinmen was placed under martial law in 1949 and implemented a wartime administrative system in 1956. During this time, military authorities controlled local administration and social management, imposing restrictions on residents' lives, including curfews, travel limitations, communication controls, and assembly bans.

This military rule ended on November 7, 1992, when martial law and the wartime administration were lifted, concluding 43 years of military control. Kinmen has since gradually transformed from a frontline military outpost into a tourism and cultural island, symbolizing a significant part of Taiwan's democratization process.

“

Many political victims were not involved in political movements, but were ordinary people who were trying to live their lives, but due to the system and the historical background at the time, their lives suddenly changed, even affecting their entire families.

The episode highlights accounts of how some civilian homes were requisitioned by the military for counter-intelligence operations, with architectural modifications made to conceal interrogation activities. Intelligence agencies were often located near residential areas, and some elderly residents recall hearing cries from these buildings at night. These state security apparatuses, operating discreetly within daily life, instilled fear and control, leaving a lasting memory for many residents.

In conjunction with the educational program, National Kinmen Senior High School hosted an exhibition titled "Where the White Paper Covers – Kinmen's White Memory and Sites of Injustice." Students curated the exhibition using political archives and oral histories, focusing on sites of injustice in the Houpu area of Jincheng and real-life cases. Kinmen High School teacher Liu Jun-di expressed hope that the curriculum and exhibition would encourage students to consider the historical context and state systems that led ordinary citizens to harm others in the name of national defense, impacting entire families. Some students discovered that victims were familiar acquaintances, underscoring history's proximity to daily life. National Sun Yat-sen University professor Lin Chuan-kai noted that Kinmen experienced stricter military control than mainland Taiwan, with more intelligence agencies and the use of a "Kinmen-specific" currency, emphasizing Kinmen's crucial role in Taiwan's democratization.

“

Compared to mainland Taiwan, Kinmen implemented even stricter military control, not only with curfews, entry and exit restrictions, frequent household checks, but also with more intelligence agencies, and even the use of 'Kinmen-specific' currency.