Lin Yi-hua and Huang Wei-che Exposed as KMT Informants During NTU Days: Shen Jung-pin Reveals Shocking Archives

Shen Jung-pin, an associate professor at York University in Canada, revealed archival documents on April 16, 2025, via Facebook, exposing that Taipei Deputy Mayor Lin Yi-hua and Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che were informants for the Kuomintang (KMT) government during their student years at National Taiwan University (NTU). Shen noted that while suspicions about their involvement had circulated for years following the leak of the so-called 'Code Name Files'—a list of student informants—the newly disclosed documents now provide concrete evidence. "By today’s standards, you could even call this a form of 'transcending blue and green,'" Shen remarked sarcastically.

According to the documents, in 1990 (Minguo Year 79), Lin Yi-hua, then a fourth-year political science student and president of the student association at NTU, was described as someone who could "deeply monitor student association dynamics and understand the activities of certain dissident groups." The file states that Lin had been cultivated as an informant since October 1987—over three years—and had consistently demonstrated loyalty, regularly reporting campus security developments.

Another document, titled the 'List of Directly Recruited Personnel at Colleges and Universities Receiving Continued Subsidies,' records Huang Wei-che, then an Agricultural Extension student, as having "provided information on radical student activities and dissident group participation in abnormal events, with outstanding performance." His subsidy increased from NT$2,000 to NT$4,000, indicating recognition of his reporting efficacy.

Shen pointed out that although Lin and Huang are from different generations, both were active in the same student circles. However, Lin operated within the KMT-aligned student faction, while Huang focused on infiltrating dissident groups. Given the Investigation Bureau’s practice of single-line communication, it is likely they were unaware of each other’s roles. "I wonder if I ever appeared in reports written by either of them," Shen mused. "In today’s terms, this might also be a kind of 'transcending blue and green.'"

Shen anticipates Lin may challenge the document’s accuracy, but argues that informants were essentially part-time workers, not professionals bound by Japanese-style craftsmanship. Inaccuracies were not only common but expected. For instance, DPP legislator Fan Yun was mistakenly listed as a member of a dissident group in official files—a clear error that underscores the unreliability of such records.

Shen, who shared activist circles and even co-founded a student newspaper group with Huang, recalled how friends once joked that Huang joined every dissident group on campus—"Could it have been for performance bonuses?" Now, with the archives confirmed, the joke has turned into a painful truth. "The cruelest thing is not that the past doesn’t fade like smoke, but that our jokes have become reality."

Shen predicts Huang will face intense criticism and that his political career may end with his term as Tainan mayor. While media attention is inevitable, the deeper issue lies in the starkly different attitudes among blue (KMT) and green (DPP) supporters toward former informants. "The gap in how Taiwanese society perceives justice and righteousness will become a barrier to future progress," Shen warned.

Ultimately, Shen revealed that the most shocking name in the files was not Lin or Huang, but someone else entirely. Reflecting on what once felt like idealistic youth, he lamented, "Perhaps I was the fool who believed in ideals and integrity, only to realize now that I was the most naive of all."