Memorial in Beijing sheds light on Communist spies executed in Taiwan

A new monument has risen in Beijing's Western Hills, a tribute to people who died during a bitter era that still lingers.

At the centre of the monument is the stone likeness of four people considered martyrs by the Beijing government, along with the names of 846 people. All were agents sent by the mainland to Taiwan to spy on Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist forces after they lost to the Communists during civil war in 1949. The Taiwanese military captured the four agents the following year, and along with the 846 others named on the stone, they were executed.

The Unsung Heroes Memorial Square, erected by the People's Liberation Army, is a stark public reckoning of the violent moment and historic tensions that still haunt the two governments, though perhaps not forever.

The tribute was unveiled in December amid reports that Taiwan and the mainland discussed exchanging imprisoned spies, although Taiwan denied the reports. Last week, officials from both governments engaged in historic talks - the first since the bitter split in 1949. Beijing regards Taiwan as part of one China.

The monument stands as a reminder that mainland Chinese only recently learned about the events in Taiwan. Public discussion about the agents' execution was taboo on the mainland before 1990. But while more people now know the history, many still do not know what happened to their relatives who spied for the Communists. A few of them, with the help of a Taiwan-based human rights group, have travelled to Taiwan and returned with their loved ones' remains. Most graves, though marked, are situated at undisclosed or long-abandoned places.

Dai Xiaoping found out what happened to his father only after years of searching for answers.