President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) urged Beijing to treasure Chinese who seek democracy, saying it can earn more respect from other nations by allowing its public to enjoy more political rights, on the 27th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre yesterday.
Publishing a message on her personal Facebook page, Tsai said she did not mean to criticize China’s political system, “but rather I am willing, with heartfelt sincerity, to share Taiwan’s experience in democratization.”
These were Tsai’s first comments about the 1989 massacre as the president of Taiwan after she took office on May 20.
“Democracy will not fall from the sky,” Tsai said. “The universal values of democracy and human rights are something that is fought for and won by the people.”
Tsai recognized China’s economic progress and the improvement in the Chinese quality of life, which she attributed to the efforts made by “the ruling party on the other side of the strait.”
However, she said it is undeniable that China is facing pressure to reform.
“If the other side of the strait can give more rights to people on the Chinese mainland, it will earn more respect from around the world,” she added.
She also called on China to treasure those who seek democracy, saying that they are likely to be the ones who will move China forward.
Only “the ruling party on the other side of the strait” can heal the past wounds of Chinese, she said.
“My responsibility is to protect the democracy and freedom enjoyed by Taiwanese and create peaceful, stable, consistent and predictable cross-strait relations,” Tsai said.
“Hopefully, one day, the views of both sides on democracy and human rights will converge,” she added.
Former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who stepped down two weeks ago, also yesterday made remarks about the massacre, where Chinese soldiers and tanks fired on civilians in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square after weeks of pro-democracy protests. Estimates of the death toll range from several hundred to thousands.
In a post on his Facebook page, Ma urged China to hear the diverse voices of the public and treat dissidents well, which he said would help Beijing win respect from people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the international community.
Ma said that China would earn more respect from the world by “redressing the June 4 incident.”
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