The government has faith in the US’ democratic institutions and judicial system in the handling of the alleged police killing of an African-American man, and people should not forget the advocates for democracy sacrificed in the Tienanmen Square Massacre 31 years ago, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday.
While thousands of people in the US have been protesting against the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota, after a white police officer pressed his knee on Floyd’s neck, US judicial authorities have launched investigations into the case, ministry spokeswoman Joanne Ou (歐江安) told a regular news briefing in Taipei when asked for comment on the protests.
Asked by reporters whether the ministry condemns violent actions by US police, Ou said the ministry believes that as a democracy based on the rule of law, the US would deliver the proper punishments to the policemen involved in the case.
Photo: CNA
Democracy pushes governments to face problems by communicating with their people to stop discrimination and injustice, which is something that does not happen under totalitarian regimes, she said.
Taiwan is opposed to any forms of discrimination, and no nations know better than Taiwan how it feels to be discriminated against and isolated, Ou said.
Hopefully, the international community can take this opportunity to remove all forms of discrimination, injustice, deprivation of human rights and institutionalized violence in different corners of the world, she added.
Photo: Screengrab from the American Institute in Taiwan’s Facebook page
While the ministry has issued a “red alert” on Sunday warning against travel to those US states most affected by the protests, “No incidents of Taiwanese living in the US being injured due to the protests had been reported,” she said.
The ministry commemorated the 31 anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre by publicizing enlargements of photographs taken in the square and nearby on June 4 and 5, 1989, including one of the iconic “tank man.”
“It [June 4] risks becoming a forgotten date, given all the efforts that the Chinese Communist Party has made to cover it up, but it should never be forgotten. No sweat and blood in the pursuit of freedom and democracy should ever be forgotten,” Ou said.
Asked whether the ministry reacts differently to acts of violence committed by police in Hong Kong and the US, Ou said the two places have responded differently to excessive law enforcement.
The four US policemen allegedly involved in the death of Floyd have been charged with serious crimes, but the Hong Kong government has never pressed charges against its police officers accused of violence, she said.
In addition, countless protesters in Hong Kong have been listed as “suicides,” with police usually concluding there were “no suspicious circumstances,” in their deaths, she added.
“The pursuit of democracy and freedom should not be forgotten. What happened to Hong Kong should not be forgotten. A free Taiwan will back Hong Kong to pursue freedom,” Ou said. “Hopefully, all efforts in the pursuit of democracy and freedom will come to fruition.”
Japan has deployed long-range missiles in a southwestern region near China, the Japanese defense minister said yesterday, at a time when ties with Beijing are at their lowest in recent years. The missiles were installed in Kumamoto in the southern region of Kyushu, as Japan is attempting to shore up its military capacity as China steps up naval activity in the East China Sea. “Standoff defense capabilities enable us to counter the threat of enemy forces attempting to invade our country ... while ensuring the safety of our personnel,” Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi said. “This is an extremely important initiative for
MORE POPULAR: Taiwan Pass sales increased by 59 percent during the first quarter compared with the same period last year, the Tourism Administration said The Tourism Administration yesterday said that it has streamlined the Taiwan Pass, with two versions available for purchase beginning today. The tourism agency has made the pass available to international tourists since 2024, allowing them to access the high-speed rail, Taiwan Railway Corp services, four MRT systems and four Taiwan Tourist Shuttles. Previously, five types of Taiwan Pass were available, but some tourists have said that the offerings were too complicated. The agency said only two types of Taiwan Pass would be available, starting from a three-day pass with the high-speed rail and a three-day pass with Taiwan Railway Corp. The former costs NT$2,800
A global survey showed that 60 percent of Taiwanese had attained higher education, second only to Canada, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan easily surpassed the global average of 43 percent and ranked ahead of major economies, including Japan, South Korea and the US, data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for 2024 showed. Taiwan has a high literacy rate, data released by the ministry showed. As of the end of last year, Taiwan had 20.617 million people aged 15 or older, accounting for 88.5 percent of the total population, with a literacy rate of 99.4 percent, the data
NEW LOW: The council in 2024 based predictions on a pessimistic estimate for the nation’s total fertility rate of 0.84, but last year that rate was 0.69, 17 percent lower An expected National Development Council (NDC) report expects the nation’s population to drop below 12 million by 2065, with the old-age dependency ratio to top 100 percent sooner than 2070, sources said yesterday. The council is slated to release its latest population projections in August, using an ultra-low fertility model, the sources said. The previous report projected that Taiwan’s population would fall to 14.37 million by 2070, but based on a new estimate of the total fertility rate (TFR) — the average number of children born to a woman over her lifetime — the population is expected to reach 12 million by
RSS