Editorial: Give Chinese dissidents asylum

Sunday marked the 17th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, in which the Chinese government brutally cracked down on pro-democracy protests sparked by the death of popular reformer Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦). No one except the authorities in Beijing will ever be sure how many people died during the offensive, but the Chinese Red Cross estimates that as many as 2,500 people were slaughtered by the People's Liberation Army that night.

The Chinese authorities have never expressed any regret over the way they handled the incident, and continue to suppress any reflection by officials or the families of those who died on that tragic night. State-controlled press ignores each anniversary.

A lot has changed in China since 1989, with economic reform continuing at breakneck speed. The Chinese Communist Party has used increased prosperity as a tool to maintain its stranglehold on power.

However, those reforms have caused growth in many coastal areas to far outstrip that of the hinterland, and the wealth accumulated by city dwellers has caused a massive income gap to develop between urban and rural residents. Those left behind by reforms have begun to protest, causing headaches for the communist leadership.

But Beijing has not budged one iota on democracy since 1989, and the Chinese people still have no choice when it comes to who represents and makes decisions for them at the national level. Beijing's attitude was made crystal clear by President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) during his meeting with US President George W. Bush in April at the White House, when Hu responded to a reporter's question by saying "I don't know. What do you mean by a democracy?"

Compare Hu's ignorance of democracy with Taiwan's thriving, some would say chaotic, system. Yes, the nation's democracy has many problems, but surely not even the most ardent pan-blue supporter, angry about all the recent alleged corruption cases, would want to trade their right to protest against the government for a muzzled life in China.

One editorialist has already noted how Beijing's plan to blacken the name of President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) by reporting on the scandal involving his son-in-law has backfired, with sections of the Chinese public beginning to laud Taiwan's democracy and question why their system does not allow its corrupt high-ranking officials to be held to account.

There is another way for Taiwan to highlight the difference between the two nations and their systems at an international level and demonstrate the benevolence and respect for human rights found in Taiwan: Grant political asylum to two Chinese democracy activists being held in detention. Yan Peng (燕鵬) and Chen Rongli (陳榮利) have been in "limbo" for more than two years since they literally swam to "freedom" from China.

But to our shame, rather than providing these brave men a platform from which to denounce China's oppressive autocracy, the government is busy trying to find a third country for them to claim asylum in. This is a difficult task nowadays as free nations around the globe, including Taiwan itself, are quick to cave in to China's economic pressure.

Although Taiwan claims to be a nation that respects human rights, it seems like the government and opposition parties are more interested in welcoming Chinese tourists and their bulging wallets than helping Chinese dissidents secure a free life here.

What better way could there be for Taiwan to commemorate the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre than to grant these two men -- and any others who manage to escape the clutches of China's brutal dictatorship -- the right to remain in Taiwan and teach local people about the true horrors of the present Chinese regime.