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
TAIWAN IS TAIWAN: US Representative Tom Tiffany said the amendment was not controversial, as ‘Taiwan is not — nor has it ever been — part of Communist China’ The US House of Representatives on Friday passed an amendment banning the US Department of Defense from creating, buying or displaying any map that shows Taiwan as part of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The “Honest Maps” amendment was approved in a voice vote on Friday as part of the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for the 2026 fiscal year. The amendment prohibits using any funds from the act to create, buy or display maps that show Taiwan, Kinmen, Matsu, Penghu, Wuciou (烏坵), Green Island (綠島) or Orchid Island (Lanyu, 蘭嶼) as part of the PRC. The act includes US$831.5 billion in
‘WORLD WAR III’: Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene said the aid would inflame tensions, but her amendment was rejected 421 votes against six The US House of Representatives on Friday passed the Department of Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 2026, which includes US$500 million for Taiwan. The bill, which totals US$831.5 billion in discretionary spending, passed in a 221-209 vote. According to the bill, the funds for Taiwan would be administered by the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency and would remain available through Sept. 30, 2027, for the Taiwan Security Cooperation Initiative. The legislation authorizes the US Secretary of Defense, with the agreement of the US Secretary of State, to use the funds to assist Taiwan in procuring defense articles and services, and military training. Republican Representative
Taiwan is hosting the International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL) for the first time, welcoming more than 400 young linguists from 43 nations to National Taiwan University (NTU). Deputy Minister of Education Chu Chun-chang (朱俊彰) said at the opening ceremony yesterday that language passes down knowledge and culture, and influences the way humankind thinks and understands the world. Taiwan is a multicultural and multilingual nation, with Mandarin Chinese, Taiwanese, Hakka, 16 indigenous languages and Taiwan Sign Language all used, Chu said. In addition, Taiwan promotes multilingual education, emphasizes the cultural significance of languages and supports the international mother language movement, he said. Taiwan has long participated
The paramount chief of a volcanic island in Vanuatu yesterday said that he was “very impressed” by a UN court’s declaration that countries must tackle climate change. Vanuatu spearheaded the legal case at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands, which on Wednesday ruled that countries have a duty to protect against the threat of a warming planet. “I’m very impressed,” George Bumseng, the top chief of the Pacific archipelago’s island of Ambrym, told reporters in the capital, Port Vila. “We have been waiting for this decision for a long time because we have been victims of this climate change for
RSS