Staff Writer, with CNA
President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) yesterday said he “hoped for the continued prosperity and development of China and wished Chinese authorities would accelerate efforts on democratic politic reform to safeguard human rights.”
In a statement issued by the Presidential Office in response to the impact of the so-called “Jasmine Revolution” on China, Ma also said he hoped the Chinese government would adopt “new concepts” and treat people with dissenting opinions more leniently.
“Let democracy and human rights be the eternal common language of the people across the strait,” Ma said.
Joseph Chen (陳永豐), director of the Presidential Office’s Department of Public Affairs, held a press conference in the afternoon to announce Ma’s official position on the protests in China.
“President Ma feels that democracy and human rights are values accepted by all, and are the extension of the principles advanced by Mencius [孟子] and Confucius [孔子],” Chen said.
“More importantly, it is the core value of Taiwanese and an -important index by which to measure the cross-strait relationship,” Chen said.
CONCERN
Meanwhile, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) expressed concern and support yesterday for a message posted on the Internet two days earlier calling for a “Chinese Jasmine Revolution.”
Tsai, who made the remark during a meeting of the DPP legislative caucus, said the uprisings in the Middle East and the democratic movements in China are significant events and represent important international trends.
Taiwan’s insistence on democracy and human rights are the country’s most valuable assets and represent the foundations of the party’s development, Tsai said.
In the face of the great challenges from China, the DPP will protect the values of Taiwan and support jasmine revolutions across China and Middle East, she said.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
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