Draft:Chen Hua

Chen Hua (陳華,September 18, 1920–July 26, 1955) was born in Pingyang county, Zhejiang province. He was one of the political victims during the White Terror period in Taiwan. Chen was involved in several seditions, including one with Zheng Chen-Yan. In 1950, Chen was sentenced to prison for 15 years, and was sent to Green Island’s New Life Correction Center to re-educate. In July, 1953, Chen was sent back to the Security Department for reasons of not conforming to discipline. In October, 1954, he was sentenced to death. He was executed by shooting in July, 1955.

Life

Rebellion of Zheng Chen-Yan and others

Chen Hua was born in 1920 in Ping-Yang county, Zhejiang province, Chen Hua graduated from Zhejiang University. In 1949, he came to Taiwan to take part in the social science classes from Taiwan Province’s Social Department. At the time, the lecturer of psychology course, Yu Fei (his original name is Zhu Fang-Chung), was considered an active member of a rebellious organization, “The New Democracy Youth Union.” Chen Hua was accused that after his psychology course, he was absorbed into the book club formed by the Youth Union, alongside members such as Zheng Chen-Yan, Wang Long-Yu, Wu Zhuo-Shu, Lin Fan, Long Dao-Dian, and more. He was said to be responsible for collecting political updates from the military, as well as confidential documents from the ports, in order to proceed a secret movement that was called “Liberating Taiwan with Peaceful Movements.”

Between January and February in 1950, Chen Hua was appointed as a government employee in Taichung Tobacco Laboratory. He was then arrested on the pretext of “collecting local information and absorbing elites to take part in the union” by Taiwan Province’s National Security Council Security Department and Taiwan Province’s Police Department, and was sent for a trial conducted by Taiwan Province’s National Security Command The same year, in May, the Military Justice Department persecuted Chen for “Having mutually illegal intention to transform the Nation’s Constitution, to subvert the current government, and have taken full action with said crime.” According to the archives, the judge who concluded the first trial considered it a misdemeanor due to his considerations that Chen Hua might have blindly taken part in the union due to Zheng Chen-Yen’s instigation, and sentenced Chen to prison for 12 years. In June, the Ministry of National Defense had presented the trial result to the President for official approval, but was asked to aggravate criminal liability. Therefore, on June 23rd, the judge had changed Chen’s sentence to 15 years. On May 17th, 1951, Chen Hua was sent to Taitung County Green Island’s New Life Correction Center to receive a discipline education, in order to transform his thoughts by said education and physical labor. From a daily basis, he was closely watched by political officers, squadron leaders, and other “New Lives” (inmates). Chen was also categorized as “Unruly New Life” by the Correction Center.

The New Life Correction Center Resurging Rebellion Case

On February, 1953, the New Lives from the first squadron, including Chih-Wei-Cheng and a others, organized a “One Person One Mission: Saving the Nation with Conscience” movement, which was a method the New Life Correction Center took to examine if the “New Lives” had well received their discipline education. The movement was free for everyone to attend, but the management level bribed and threatened in the back, pushing the New Lives to actively take part. However, most New Lives chose to passively refuse to participate, which caused the movement to end up in no avail. Afterward, the New Life Correction Center considered that it was due to Chen Hua and many others’ obstructions that the movement couldn’t end up with a good result. In the same year, on April 10th, the Nao-Liao Coal Miner Strike happened. Chen Hua stated that the strike was due to the uneven distribution of physical labor for the New Lives, but in the meanwhile, for the New Life Correction Center management, the strike represented how Chen Hua went from passive to active protest, and had therefore sent him to legal trial. On July 1st, Chen Hua and many others were sent to the Security Department to be interrogated on the pretext of behaving like an “unruly New Life”, “New Life who engages in illegal activity”. The New Life Correction Center’s director Yao Sheng-Chai made a suggestion for Chen Hua’s case “to be executed with severe penalty by the Command’s Interrogation Department.”

After Chen Hua was imprisoned at the Security Department Detention Center, the Center had worked with other New Lives staying in the same cell with Chen, including Oh Wen-Hua and others, to collect comments and sayings that weren’t in Chen Hua’s favor, and therefore started doing a very thorough investigation for “evidences of crime.” For example, they encountered a list of 21 names, including that of Chen Hua, as well as records of conclusions from Chen Hua and many others, who had criticized and discussed the goods and flaws of political figures on October 1st, China's National Day, notes on “The Chinese Communists’ combats,” “History of Societal Evolution,” and more, under Fu Ru-Chih’s water kettle. Since then, Chen Hua, previously known as “rebellious New Life,” had become “Communist party member.” The Security Department made use of these records and interrogated Chen, and had concluded that Chen Hua was involved in researching Communist theories and developing collectives within the jail. In February, 1954, Chen Hua was then sent to the Military Justice Department for an official trial.

In March, 1954, the military prosecutor from the Military Justice Department interrogated Chen Hua and many others. At this time, Chen Hua’s statement had greatly differed from records coming from the Security Department. Chen stated that he had been framed by the Security Department, and had not engaged in researching Communist theories, developing collectives, or further. However, the prosecutor didn’t trust Chen’s statement, and considered him and others to have intentionally engaged in illegal actions to subvert the current government. Therefore, Chen Hua and others were prosecuted based on Article of Rebellion Punishment, Clause 2, Item 1. When they were called to court for questioning on April, Chen Hua explained himself regarding the statement from the Security Department, and had provided a written report to appeal, in summary:

He did not intend to disrupt the One Person One Mission movement organized by the New Life Correction Center.
It was not true that he researched Communist theories. The books he read were titles approved by the Correction Center. If such activity was deemed illegal, it would be apparent that the guilt was imposed on him.
He did not engage in developing collectives. The other New Lives that were sent back to the Security Department from Green Island were all from different squadrons, and most of them did not know one another. Under such tight surveillance from the Security Department, how could anyone have had the chance to build any collective and to engage in illegal activities? Moreover, the pamphlets that commented on people’s goods and flaws, as well as the group discussion were made up by Chen in order to please the opposite gender (i.e. Fu Ru-Chih).
The fact that he was accused to have Induced the bodyguard to “start an uprising prior to a battle,” was due to the fact that after having suffered from severe punishment, Chen was emotionally unstable, and was induced by the Security Department’s bodyguard Ke Wan-Jin to write up language such as “starting an uprising prior to a battle.”

Although Chen Hua was able to submit his written report prior to the trial, and had never ceased to argue that the records from the Security Department’s interrogation were untrue and fictional under torture, the judge had sentenced him to death penalty. Based on the records, Chen Hua had admitted that he was secretly communicating with Fu Ru-Chih, and had transmitted summaries of “Youth Cultivation,” “History of the Chinese Communists’ Combats,” and “The History of Societal Evolution.” Moreover, the bandits’ songs and poems were shared. He had also instigated bodyguards and more, which supported the statement that Chen Hua had repeatedly educating others with Communist theories, encouraging others to resist the current government, and incited soldiers to rebel, and more, which had reached the level of “intentionally engage in illegal activities in order to subvert the official government.” The Taiwan Province’s National Security Council officially submitted the death penalty report of Chen Hua and many others to the Ministry of National Defense, who then submitted the same report to the Presidential Hall on February 28th, 1955. President Chiang Kai-Shek approved on May 6th that the criminals would be executed on July 26th at Xindian’s An-Keng execution ground.

Rehabilitation

In 1999, Chen’s younger brother, Chen Sho-Jie applied for compensation from the Foundation of Compensation for Unjust Rebels and Bandits Trial Cases during White Terror Period. In December, 2000, the second interim board of directors had approved compensation for the first time. On February 27th, 2019, the Transitional Justice Commission had officially announced that Chen Hua and others’ judicial punishment records of being criminally guilty were eliminated.