Tilanqiao Prison

Coordinates: 31°15′20″N 121°30′37″E / 31.25556°N 121.51028°E / 31.25556; 121.51028
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Tilanqiao Prison
Hanyu Pinyin
Tílánqiáo Jiānyù

The Tilanqiao Prison (

Alcatraz of the Orient".[1]

Ward Road Gaol period (1903–1941)

Tilanqiao Prison was built to hold those convicted of crimes in Shanghai's International Settlement. Prior to its construction foreign convicts were held in

Shanghai Municipal Council drew up plans for a modern-style jail based on Singaporean and Canadian designs. Construction began at 117 Ward Road that year, with the first prisoners were placed in cells on 18 May 1903.[2]

Originally comprising 450 cells across two four-storey blocks, the prison was expanded after the 1911

Shanghai Municipal Council (SMC). Further extensions took place in 1916 and continued until 1935 when the prison reached a grand total of some 70,000 square metres (17 acres), including six prison blocks, a juvenile block, a hospital, an administration block, workshops, a kitchen and laundry, and an execution chamber, all surrounded by a five-metre-tall (16 ft) wall with guard-towers.[3] The execution chamber is considered unique in pre-Second World War China in that it carried out death by hanging, with the body dropping through a trapdoor directly into the prison hospital's morgue. Over the years specialist rooms were added to the prison, including 'isolation rooms' with rubber wallpaper
, and a secure command centre for regrouping in event of a riot.

The prison population comprised a mix of Chinese and European males found guilty by

French Concession's prison. In 1925 a decision was made to no longer imprison Western convicts at Ward Road, instead sending them to the Settlement's Caucasian-only
prison: Amoy Road Gaol.

Between 1925 and 1930 Ward Road Gaol was therefore a prison predominantly housing Chinese prisoners, controlled and run by a predominantly British and Indian staff. In 1930 Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang government negotiated for all male prisoners, Western or Chinese, to be sent to Ward Road Gaol and for it to be run as close to Chinese guidelines as possible. This was agreed in theory, though the British staff were unwilling to enforce Chinese discipline as provided in the guidelines, as this was considered harsh – even by the prison's own rough standards.

For its existence, Ward Road Gaol has been considered one of the harshest in the world. Silence was enforced at all times and overcrowding was rife. In 1934 there were only 2925 cells between its 6000 inmates. Tuberculosis was found in nearly 65% of long-term prisoners, suicide was not uncommon, and discipline was enforced through

long batons. The majority of warders were Indian Sikhs, who were generally despised by Chinese prisoners. Western prisoners were separated from the Chinese and were relatively better cared for, being given lighter duties, separate cells and softer uniforms. After 1930 they too were officially brought under the same discipline system as the Chinese, however.[5]

Wartime period (1932–1949)

1932 to 1943

After the

young offenders
into a dangerous environment.

The prison remained under the management and control of the Municipal Council until it was disbanded in 1943 and the prison continued to process and detain Chinese and foreign prisoners in Ward Road Gaol. However after the commencement of the Pacific War in December 1941, Japan took over effective control of the Council. The prison nonetheless retained many of its Sikh and European guards.

1943 to 1945

This changed when it was turned over to the

prisoners of war, and some European civilians. Many prisoners were removed from the prison by the Japanese and used as forced labour
.

In February 1944, a section of the prison was made a consular prison for the detention of Japanese under control of the Japanese Consulate General.[6]

It was during this period that Ward Road saw its first and only escape, when two Americans and one British naval officer, all Allied POW's, managed to escape from the prison with Chinese assistance. In September 1944, USMC Corporal Jerold Beers Story, USN Lieutenant Commander Columbus Darwin Smith, and Commander John B. Wooley RN traveled 700 miles over seven weeks across Japanese-occupied China until they reached friendly forces.

1945 to 1949

In 1945 the

war criminals and a number of Chinese who had been part of Wang Jingwei's government. In 1947 the first trials of these criminals were held. Thirteen Chinese hanjian prisoners being executed inside the prison's walls. The U.S. military also used the prison to execute Japanese war criminals convicted by an American military commission in Shanghai.[7]

In 1948, the underground Communist Party member Wang Xiaohe was executed by the Guomindang after a show trial. The execution took place in the prison yard by firing squad rather than in the execution chamber.

Modern period (1950–present)

With the victory of the Communists (PRC) in the Chinese Civil War in 1949, Shanghai's Tilanqiao Prison was brought under the control of the Municipal Military Control Commission and renamed the Shanghai People's Prison. In 1951 it was turned over to the civil Public Security Bureau and again renamed; this time to Shanghai Prison. It continued under this name until 1995 when it was named Shanghai Tilanqiao Prison.[2]

For many years Tilanqiao Prison was one of China's largest and most (in)famous prisons, often held and reported as a model prison by the PRC state.[8][9] Nevertheless, human rights groups and Western governments argue the prison continues to engage in torture, deprivation and cruelty.[10] Allegations of torture and ill-treatment toward high-profile prisoners such as Mao Hengfeng have been used to highlight apparent abuses at the prison.[11]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Phillips, Tom (5 July 2013), "China prepares to close down its "city of the doomed"", The Daily Telegraph
  2. ^ a b c "上海市提篮桥监狱", Shanghai Chronicle (in Chinese), Shanghai Municipal Government, retrieved 17 January 2015
  3. ^ Dikötter 2002, p. 311.
  4. ^ Dikötter 2002, p. 321.
  5. ^ Dikötter 2002, pp. 318–321.
  6. ^ Tairiku Shimbun, February 2, 1944
  7. ^ laitimes (10 November 2021). "Deciphering the souls of Japanese war criminals in Chinese prisons". laitimes. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  8. ^ Qiao, Lijing, "Inside High Walls: Prisons in Shanghai and Suzhou", Human Rights, China Society for Human Rights Studies, retrieved 17 January 2015
  9. ^ Stevenson 2011, Chapter 8.
  10. ^ "DOCUMENT - CHINA: FEAR OF TORTURE OR ILL-TREATMENT/ PRISONER OF CONSCIENCE: ZHENG ENCHONG (M)", Amnesty International
  11. ^ "Mao Hengfeng: Amnesty urgent action", The Guardian, 25 June 2011, retrieved 17 January 2015

Sources

Further reading

31°15′20″N 121°30′37″E / 31.25556°N 121.51028°E / 31.25556; 121.51028

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