No matter how China develops politically, democracy will be its final destiny, said President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in an article in remembrance of today's 16th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.
The massacre began in Beijing on June 4, 1989, when the Chinese authorities brutally instructed troops to crush pro-democracy demonstrators gathered in Tiananmen Square.
In his weekly e-newsletter published yesterday, the president said it is time to review political developments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait since 1989.
While the massacre stymied China's democratic development, Chen said Taiwan has since accelerated its democratic reforms and has emerged as the "democratic lighthouse" of the world's Chinese societies.
Judging from Taiwan's experience, Chen said he is convinced that repressive rule only restricts humans temporarily, and cannot constrain them for ever.
The value of democracy lies in the fact that diverse opinions can co-exist, Chen said, "although sometimes clamoring might appear in an occasional display of disorder,this, however, cannot be used as an excuse to take away the people's right to be their own boss."
"Pursuing democracy is our ideal, and protecting democracy is our responsibility," Chen said in the article. "Although to China, the shadow of Tiananmen might gradually fade away, the `sun' of democracy is dawning quietly in various corners of China."
"I believe that no matter how bumpy China's political development might be, democracy will be its final destiny," Chen said. "I earnestly hope that China's leaders can respect and protect the people's right to free choice, and hope that the universal values of freedom and democracy will blossom in China eventually."
Seven of the 17 NT$10 million (US$311,604) winning receipts from the November-December uniform invoice lottery remain unclaimed as of today, the Ministry of Finance said, urging winners to redeem their prizes by May 5. The reminder comes ahead of the release of the winning numbers for the January-February lottery tomorrow. Among the unclaimed receipts was one for a NT$173 phone bill in Keelung, while others were for a NT$5,913 purchase at Costco in Taipei's Neihu District (內湖), a NT$49 purchase at a FamilyMart in New Taipei City's Tamsui District (淡水), and a NT$500 purchase at a tea shop in New Taipei City's
Taiwanese officials were shown the first of 66 F-16V fighter jets purchased by Taiwan from the United States, the Ministry of National Defense said yesterday, adding the aircraft has completed an initial flight test and is expected to be delivered later this year. A delegation led by Deputy Minister of National Defense Hsu Szu-chien (徐斯儉) visited Lockheed Martin’s F-16 C/D Block 70 (also known as F-16V) assembly line in South Carolina on March 16 to view the aircraft. The jet will undergo a final acceptance flight in the US before being delivered to Taiwan, the
Deliveries of delayed F-16V jets are expected to begin in September, Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) said today, after senior defense officials visited the US last week. The US in 2019 approved a US$8 billion sale of Lockheed Martin F-16 jets to Taiwan, a deal that would take the nation’s F-16 fleet to more than 200 jets, but the project has been hit by issues including software problems. Koo appeared today before a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which is discussing different versions of the special defense budget this week. The committee is questioning officials today,
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