Political leaders yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre with declarations that mostly emphasized shoring up democracy at home or sympathy for the pursuit of freedom in China.
President William Lai (賴清德) in a Facebook post said the world was mesmerized by young Chinese standing up for freedom in Beijing 35 years ago as a tide of democracy swept through Asia.
Taiwan was blessed by its forebears whose sacrifices transformed the erstwhile dictatorship into a democracy, and by generations of young people who picked up the torch and continued the fight for freedom, Lai said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The lineage of youth activism in Taiwan ran from the Wild Lily and Wild Strawberry student movements to the Sunflower and Qingniao (bluebird) movements, Lai said, referring to the latest protests against controversial legislative reforms.
A nation truly worthy of respect is one in which people can freely speak their minds and any polity should bravely face the voice of the people, especially young people, he said.
Societal reform cannot occur without allowing a diversity of opinions and empowering young people to act as catalysts of change, Lai said, adding that the state should encourage and protect young people, not suppress them.
Photo: screen grab from William Lai’s Facebook page
Taiwan would continue to strive to preserve the memory of the massacre so that it would never vanish in the tide of history, he said.
“We are committed to forming a consensus with democracy, responding to dictatorship with freedom and courageously confronting the challenge of authoritarian expansionism with solidarity, and to cooperating with like-minded nations to make the world a better place,” Lai said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) in a Facebook post said: “The two sides across the Taiwan Strait have never been closer in a historical moment and ideology than the days leading to June 4.”
Taiwanese students gathered at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in a gesture of support for their Chinese counterparts at Tiananmen Square, later bearing witness to the massacre, Chu said.
The ties that bind the two sides are not only history, culture and blood, but the pursuit of freedom, democracy, human dignity and other universal values, he said.
“We must remember June 4 because the two sides across the strait are still bound together in destiny and because this page of Chinese history must never be forgotten,” he said. “The KMT will forever stand beside those who pursue freedom and democracy as its friends and we will always defend the Republic of China.”
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in a Facebook post said: “A nation will not make progress if it does not confront difficult moments in its history.”
The Tiananmen Square Massacre created a trauma in the Chinese psyche that 35 years of economic progress cannot heal, Ko said.
The Taiwanese government did not apologize for the 228 Incident in 1947 for 48 years, he said, adding that the families of the victims, including his own, had suffered in silence during that time.
Ko spent his childhood watching his father quietly shed tears every Feb. 28, turning the date into a bitter one for him as well, he said.
“I share my feelings with friends across the Taiwan Strait, which is that there can be no forgiveness without truth, no reconciliation without forgiveness and no peace without reconciliation,” he said.
“The time has come to rehabilitate” the Tiananmen Square protesters, he added.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
Two US House of Representatives committees yesterday condemned China’s attempt to orchestrate a crash involving Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim’s (蕭美琴) car when she visited the Czech Republic last year as vice president-elect. Czech local media in March last year reported that a Chinese diplomat had run a red light while following Hsiao’s car from the airport, and Czech intelligence last week told local media that Chinese diplomats and agents had also planned to stage a demonstrative car collision. Hsiao on Saturday shared a Reuters news report on the incident through her account on social media platform X and wrote: “I
‘BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS’: The US military’s aim is to continue to make any potential Chinese invasion more difficult than it already is, US General Ronald Clark said The likelihood of China invading Taiwan without contest is “very, very small” because the Taiwan Strait is under constant surveillance by multiple countries, a US general has said. General Ronald Clark, commanding officer of US Army Pacific (USARPAC), the US Army’s largest service component command, made the remarks during a dialogue hosted on Friday by Washington-based think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Asked by the event host what the Chinese military has learned from its US counterpart over the years, Clark said that the first lesson is that the skill and will of US service members are “unmatched.” The second
STANDING TOGETHER: Amid China’s increasingly aggressive activities, nations must join forces in detecting and dealing with incursions, a Taiwanese official said Two senior Philippine officials and one former official yesterday attended the Taiwan International Ocean Forum in Taipei, the first high-level visit since the Philippines in April lifted a ban on such travel to Taiwan. The Ocean Affairs Council hosted the two-day event at the National Taiwan University Hospital International Convention Center. Philippine Navy spokesman Rear Admiral Roy Vincent Trinidad, Coast Guard spokesman Grand Commodore Jay Tarriela and former Philippine Presidential Communications Office assistant secretary Michel del Rosario participated in the forum. More than 100 officials, experts and entrepreneurs from 15 nations participated in the forum, which included discussions on countering China’s hybrid warfare
MORE DEMOCRACY: The only solution to Taiwan’s current democratic issues involves more democracy, including Constitutional Court rulings and citizens exercising their civil rights , Lai said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) is not the “motherland” of the Republic of China (ROC) and has never owned Taiwan, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday. The speech was the third in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to deliver across Taiwan. Taiwan is facing external threats from China, Lai said at a Lions Clubs International banquet in Hsinchu. For example, on June 21 the army detected 12 Chinese aircraft, eight of which entered Taiwanese waters, as well as six Chinese warships that remained in the waters around Taiwan, he said. Beyond military and political intimidation, Taiwan
RSS