To mark the 28th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) urged China to transition to democracy and release human rights advocate Lee Ming-che (李明哲), a Taiwanese who it has detained since March 19.
To the world’s astonishment, young Chinese seeking the universal values of democracy and freedom sacrificed their lives during a bloody crackdown in Beijing on June 4, 1989, and 28 years later, China has become a global leading economy, but Beijing’s “authoritarian government is still challenging those values on which modern civilization depends,” the party said in a statement on Saturday.
China has suppressed its people seeking basic human rights, with rights activists constantly being threatened, under the pretext of maintaining stability, the DPP said.
“Democracy, freedom and human rights are universal values unbounded by national boundaries and should be enjoyed by 1.4 billion Chinese,” the party said.
Beijing has tightened its control in Hong Kong and limited the freedoms Hong Kongers had enjoyed, despite their desire for universal suffrage and democracy, the DPP said.
“China cannot solely base its power on GDP and military might. A harmonious society has to be based on pluralism, openness and justice,” the statement said. “Beijing is urged to face the history of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and return people’s rights to them.”
“The way Beijing handles the Lee Ming-che incident has revealed its nature as disregarding basic human rights and freedom of speech, and emphasized the fundamental differences between China and Taiwan,” the statement said.
It was not until May 26 that the Chinese authorities announced that Lee had been arrested for suspected subversion of state power, and it has yet to disclose evidence of his alleged crime, approve a visit by his family members and assure a speedy release, the DPP said.
The New Power Party (NPP) also issued a statement on Saturday saying that Lee’s case is of potential concern to every Taiwanese, who are neighbors to an undemocratic nation with a worrisome human right’s track record
China must provide redress to the victims of the Tiananmen Square Massacre and it should respect Taiwan’s sovereignty, the NPP said.
In related news, DPP and NPP lawmakers yesterday criticized Beijing for snubbing human rights and for comments by its Taiwan Affairs Office.
Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) on Saturday said that Taiwan was in no position to comment on China because only Chinese are entitled to comment on China’s development, and Taiwan’s government and the DPP had caused disturbances with their values.
“The remark exposed the arrogance of the Chinese government in ignoring the history and its authoritarianism. One has little hope in the Chinese government that it would respect the calls to protect universal human rights,” DPP Legislator Lin Chun-hsien (林俊憲) said.
The remark that Taiwan had no right to comment on China’s internal affairs has also been ridiculed as a tacit acknowledgment of Taiwan’s independence, Lin added.
Additional reporting by staff writer
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