President William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday hailed the importance of protest movements when commemorating the Tiananmen Square Massacre, while the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) emphasized connections across the Taiwan Strait on that day 35 years ago.
Writing on Facebook, Lai said it is important to observe June 4 not only to commemorate the massacre, but also to acknowledge the shared conviction of people worldwide that protection is only afforded by democracy and freedom.
“Thirty-five years ago today, the world watched Tiananmen with bated breath,” he wrote. “At that time, a wave of democratization was sweeping the globe, and young students across Asia stood up in pursuit of democracy and freedom, calling for change.”
Photo: AFP
Taiwanese back then fought for their democracy, and young people today are taking up that torch, he said.
“On this land, wild lilies sprout, wild strawberries grow, sunflowers bloom and bluebirds fly,” he said, referring to protest movements from 1990 until now.
The power of young people to affect change should not be suppressed, but protected and encouraged by the state, he said.
Lai vowed to keep the memory of June 4 alive for everyone who cares about Chinese democracy, and to “remind us that freedom and democracy are hard-won.”
The Democratic Progressive Party in a statement also praised Taiwan’s history of activism, with the Wild Lily student movement coming only the year after Tiananmen.
The party commemorates June 4 not only for the pursuit of universal human values, but also to “staunchly defend through action Taiwan’s hard-won democracy, freedom and rights,” it wrote on Facebook.
It also criticized the opposition parties for “singing China’s praises” and attempting to amend national security laws to harm the nation’s sovereignty and security.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) on Facebook touted the “third wave of democratic reforms” currently being pushed by the opposition parties.
“Through the third wave of democratic reforms, the Republic of China has proven to all Chinese still in pursuit of democracy that we have the experience, ability and determination to maintain a democratic system, and that a stable democracy and constitutional system is the best guarantee for freedom,” he wrote.
At the time of the Tiananmen protests, students gathering at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei shared a telephone connection with their counterparts in Beijing, Chu said.
“The reason we must commemorate June 4 every year is precisely because the fate of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are still closely intertwined, because this is a page in Chinese history that cannot be erased and because our insistence on freedom and democracy has never slackened,” he said.
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