Who still remembers the Chinese government's brutal military suppression of pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square 13 years ago today? People in Hong Kong and Taiwan have not forgotten, nor have international human rights groups. Every year since 1989, demonstrations have been held on June 4 in major cities around the world to commemorate those democracy activists who died in the crackdown or have been imprisoned. The Chinese government also remembers in its own way -- with annual roundups of dissidents and activists ahead of the anniversary. The Tiananmen massacre has become an indelible scar.
Thirteen years on, more than 200 of those arrested for pro-democracy activities are still in prison, according to the human rights group Amnesty International. More dissidents continue to be detained.
One of this year's high-profile detainees is Yang Jianli (
Denying dissidents entry for political reasons is a common tool of authoritarian regimes. Arrested dissidents and political activists, however, can also serve the state in a variety of ways. They can be held up as examples to terrorize the rest of the populace against pushing for reforms. If a government wants to bolster its image either at home or abroad, releasing jailed activists is always worth a few public-relations points. And dissidents always make dandy bargaining chips when foreign governments or human rights groups press for their release.
Chinese authorities excel at both squashing protests and extracting the last pound of flesh from dissidents to further their own agenda. A good example was China's decision to allow dissident Fang Lizhi (
The KMT government also used to blacklist dissidents and deny them entry to Taiwan. It didn't end the practice until 1996, after many dissidents managed to sneak back into the country, in coordination with massive resistance movements organized by the opposition. Taiwan's human rights situation has improved vastly since then. Even a controversial figure like Justin Lin (
The different human rights situations on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are reflected in the differences in how Yang and Lin have been handled. Beijing should understand that arresting democracy activists does not provide a security guarantee -- it only creates a liability. The harder it tries to suppress internal dissent, the greater the people's resistance will be, and the further China will be from winning the hearts of the people of Taiwan. Only by adopting universal human rights standards will China's domestic pressures be balanced.
In an article published in Newsweek on Monday last week, President William Lai (賴清德) challenged China to retake territories it lost to Russia in the 19th century rather than invade Taiwan. “If it is really for the sake of territorial integrity, why doesn’t China take back Russia?” Lai asked, referring to territories lost in 1858 and 1860. The territories once made up the two flanks of northern Manchuria. Once ceded to Russia, they became part of the Russian far east. Claims since then have been made that China and Russia settled the disputes in the 1990s through the 2000s and that “China
China has successfully held its Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, with 53 of 55 countries from the African Union (AU) participating. The two countries that did not participate were Eswatini and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which have no diplomatic relations with China. Twenty-four leaders were reported to have participated. Despite African countries complaining about summit fatigue, with recent summits held with Russia, Italy, South Korea, the US and Indonesia, as well as Japan next month, they still turned up in large numbers in Beijing. China’s ability to attract most of the African leaders to a summit demonstrates that it is still being
Trips to the Kenting Peninsula in Pingtung County have dredged up a lot of public debate and furor, with many complaints about how expensive and unreasonable lodging is. Some people even call it a tourist “butchering ground.” Many local business owners stake claims to beach areas by setting up parasols and driving away people who do not rent them. The managing authority for the area — Kenting National Park — has long ignored the issue. Ultimately, this has affected the willingness of domestic travelers to go there, causing tourist numbers to plummet. In 2008, Taiwan opened the door to Chinese tourists and in
Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) on Thursday was handcuffed and escorted by police to the Taipei Detention Center, after the Taipei District Court ordered that he be detained and held incommunicado for suspected corruption during his tenure as Taipei mayor. The ruling reversed an earlier decision by the same court on Monday last week that ordered Ko’s release without bail. That decision was appealed by prosecutors on Wednesday, leading the High Court to conclude that Ko had been “actively involved” in the alleged corruption and it ordered the district court to hold a second detention hearing. Video clips
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