The former leader of Hong Kong’s Catholic Church yesterday hit out at Beijing for its stance over the 1989 pro-democracy demonstrations in Tiananmen Square and voiced concern for religious freedom.
Cardinal Joseph Zen (陳日君), a staunch democracy advocate and long-time vocal critic of the Chinese government, said he wanted to see an official re-examination of the bloody crackdown on student demonstrators 20 years ago this week.
“I hope they really consider seriously the possibility of a reassessment of the verdict,” Shanghai-born Zen said in a speech at Hong Kong’s Foreign Correspondents’ Club, three days before the June 4 anniversary.
“It will not damage anyone, but would be to the advantage of the whole nation,” he said.
The events of 1989, in which hundreds or possibly thousands died when the army moved in on the young protesters, remain taboo in China, where the government blocks any mention of it in the press and on the Internet.
Beijing has refused to change its position that the protests threatened Chinese Communist Party rule and had to be quelled to maintain economic reforms.
Asked when or if he thought the Chinese government would soften its stance, Zen said: “Things in China are unpredictable. It may happen tomorrow or still take 20 years.”
Zen, 77, an official adviser to Pope Benedict XVI since his recent retirement, said he was also deeply concerned for the freedom of the Church in the world’s most populous country.
“There’s no real freedom in China, I’m sorry to say,” the cardinal said, adding the state of the Church there was “more close to my heart” than even the Tiananmen issue.
The US government has signed defense cooperation agreements with Japan and the Philippines to boost the deterrence capabilities of countries in the first island chain, a report by the National Security Bureau (NSB) showed. The main countries on the first island chain include the two nations and Taiwan. The bureau is to present the report at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee tomorrow. The US military has deployed Typhon missile systems to Japan’s Yamaguchi Prefecture and Zambales province in the Philippines during their joint military exercises. It has also installed NMESIS anti-ship systems in Japan’s Okinawa
TRAGEDY STRIKES TAIPEI: The suspect died after falling off a building after he threw smoke grenades into Taipei Main Station and went on a killing spree in Zhongshan A 27-year-old suspect allegedly threw smoke grenades in Taipei Main Station and then proceeded to Zhongshan MRT Station in a random killing spree that resulted in the death of the suspect and two other civilians, and seven injured, including one in critical condition, as of press time last night. The suspect, identified as a man surnamed Chang Wen (張文), allegedly began the attack at Taipei Main Station, the Taipei Fire Department said, adding that it received a report at 5:24pm that smoke grenades had been thrown in the station. One man in his 50s was rushed to hospital after a cardiac arrest
ON ALERT: Taiwan’s partners would issue warnings if China attempted to use Interpol to target Taiwanese, and the global body has mechanisms to prevent it, an official said China has stationed two to four people specializing in Taiwan affairs at its embassies in several democratic countries to monitor and harass Taiwanese, actions that the host nations would not tolerate, National Security Bureau (NSB) Director-General Tsai Ming-yen (蔡明彥) said yesterday. Tsai made the comments at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, which asked him and Minister of National Defense Wellington Koo (顧立雄) to report on potential conflicts in the Taiwan Strait and military preparedness. Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Michelle Lin (林楚茵) expressed concern that Beijing has posted personnel from China’s Taiwan Affairs Office to its
‘ILLEGAL RULING’: The KMT and the TPP slammed the Constitutional Court judgement, saying it contravened the law and was trying to clear the way for a ‘green dictatorship’ The Constitutional Court yesterday ruled that amendments to the Constitutional Court Procedure Act (憲法訴訟法) passed by the Legislative Yuan last year are unconstitutional, as they contravene due legislative process and separation of powers. The Legislative Yuan on Dec. 20 last year passed amendments stipulating that no fewer than 10 grand justices must take part in deliberations of the Constitutional Court, and at least nine grand justices must agree to declare a law unconstitutional. The Executive Yuan on Jan. 2 requested that lawmakers reconsider the bill, but the Legislative Yuan, under a combined majority of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and Taiwan People’s Party
RSS