On the eve of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, exiled Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹) said yesterday that the Internet was an area China was not able to control.
He said that although it might take a long time, the influence of the Internet had given him hope for the democratization of the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
Wang made the remarks during a conversation with researcher Lee Edwards at The Heritage Foundation in the US on Tuesday. In response to a question on how the younger Chinese generation looks at the Chinese democracy movement almost 20 years after the June 4 incident, Wang said this generation thinks differently from his generation, which placed more importance on ideology.
He said younger generations were more concerned about how to meet their material interests and were not concerned about ideological or impractical issues.
“Like everywhere else in the world, the younger generation shows more interest in money while the older generation values idealism. After the 1980s, materialism became the social mainstream and that had an impact on the younger generation,” Wang said.
But Wang said he was not disappointed with this phenomenon because at least the younger generation cared about its own interests. He said this mindset would lead to conflict between young people and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leadership as the latter fundamentally opposes basic individual rights.
Wang said the Internet could help young people understand the June 4 incident, adding that people cannot pin their hopes for the future of the Chinese democracy movement on the new CCP leadership.
“There are two Chinas now. One is the real and practical China, which is totally controlled by the CCP. The other China is a China based on the Internet,” Wang said. “That’s the base of the new social forces. It is the hope for civil society, and civil society is the hope for democracy.”
“It will take a long time, but at least I have seen the starting point,” Wang said.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
Advocates of the rights of motorcycle and scooter riders yesterday protested in front of the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Taipei, making three demands. They were joined by 30 passenger vehicles, which surrounded the ministry to make three demands related to traffic regulations — that motorcycles and scooters above 250cc be allowed on highways, that all motorcycles and scooters be allowed on inside lanes, and that driver and rider training programs be reformed. The ministry said that it has no plans to allow motorcycles on national highways for the time being, and said that motorcycles would be allowed on the inner
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition