Green Island

Green Island, a small islet of 1,000 people off Taitung on the southeastern coast, is popularly regarded as a major center for political punishment and "thought reform."…According to one of the students, "Gangsters are imprisoned on another island south of Green Island because Chiang is afraid they are a source of support for anti-KMT politicians, as he himself had relied on Shanghai gangs in his youth.…Once I was guided to a "political reform" camp near Taitung, but not allowed to speak to any prisoners. "It would be useless for you to take the rough trip over to Green Island," said the guide, "because they're even stricter with foreign visitors there than on Formosa. Moreover, important political offenders are kept in Taipei."