Former Chinese basketball national team player Chen Kai (
Chen moved to the US after getting married, and it was there, he said, that he began to learn about democracy.
He was shocked when he saw the violent response of the Chinese government to pro-democracy student demonstrations at Tiananmen Square in 1989, he said.
PHOTO: CHIEN JUNG-FONG, TAIPEI TIMES
"I thought economic reform would bring about political reform -- but I never imagined that such a massacre could happen in an apparently prosperous age," he told a press conference in Taipei yesterday.
With human rights violations still a serious problem in China, Chen launched his "Olympic Freedom T-shirt Movement" in the US last year.
"I'm neither asking you to boycott the Beijing Olympics, nor to protest against the authoritarian regime of the Chinese Communist Party by not participating in the Olympics, but to follow the conscientiousness and courage in your soul and join the worldwide Olympic freedom T-shirt campaign to show your support for universal humanitarian values."
He encouraged Taiwanese athletes and visitors to wear the T-shirt as they travel to Beijing for the Games in August.
Sheng Yang Chang-ying (
"Rather, he is just asking that those who agree with him do as much as they can to make their protest heard," she said.
To promote the movement, Chen has worn the T-shirt while participating in runs in several cities in the US, Canada, Australia and Germany.
Every person who has participated in the runs has received the free T-shirt.
Chen hopes to wear the T-shirt and run at least in Hong Kong, if not in China proper, Sheng Yang said.
The slogan, "Beijing 1989 -- Tiananmen, Beijing 2008 -- Olympics" appears on the T-shirt, with blood stains printed over the words. Underneath the slogan is a large picture of the Statue of Liberty used by Tiananmen Square demonstrators in 1989.
The Olympic spirit is that of freedom, not appeasing or compromising to an authoritarian regime that enslaves its own people, Chen said.
"We should remember the 1936 Olympics in Berlin -- millions of innocent people were being tortured and murdered by the Nazi regime [after the Olympic Games were held]," he said.
"History should absolutely not repeat itself," he said.
Eight restaurants in Taiwan yesterday secured a one-star rating from the Michelin Guide Taiwan for the first time, while three one-star restaurants from last year’s edition were promoted to two stars. Forty-three restaurants were awarded one star this year, including 34 in Taipei, five in Taichung and four in Kaohsiung. Hosu (好嶼), Chuan Ya (川雅), Sushi Kajin (鮨嘉仁), aMaze (心宴), La Vie by Thomas Buhner, Yuan Yi (元一) and Frassi in Taipei and Front House (方蒔) in Kaohsiung received a one-star rating for the first time. Hosu is known for innovative Taiwanese dishes, while Chuan Ya serves Sichuan cuisine and aMaze specializes
STATS: Taiwan’s average life expectancy of 80.77 years was lower than that of Japan, Singapore and South Korea, but higher than in China, Malaysia and Indonesia Taiwan’s average life expectancy last year increased to 80.77 years, but was still not back to its pre-COVID-19 pandemic peak of 81.32 years in 2020, the Ministry of the Interior said yesterday. The average life expectancy last year increased the 0.54 years from 2023, the ministry said in a statement. For men and women, the average life expectancy last year was 77.42 years and 84.30 years respectively, up 0.48 years and 0.56 years from the previous year. Taiwan’s average life expectancy peaked at 81.32 years in 2020, as the nation was relatively unaffected by the pandemic that year. The metric
Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) plans to ease strained capacity during peak hours by introducing new fare rules restricting passengers traveling without reserved seats in 2026, company Chairman Shih Che (史哲) said Wednesday. THSRC needs to tackle its capacity issue because there have been several occasions where passengers holding tickets with reserved seats did not make it onto their train in stations packed with individuals traveling without a reserved seat, Shih told reporters in a joint interview in Taipei. Non-reserved seats allow travelers maximum flexibility, but it has led to issues relating to quality of service and safety concerns, especially during
A magnitude 5.1 earthquake struck Chiayi County at 4:37pm today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 36.3km southeast of Chiayi County Hall at a depth of 10.4km, CWA data showed. There were no immediate reports of damage resulting from the quake. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Chiayi County, Tainan and Kaohsiung on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Pingtung, Taitung, Hualien, Changhua, Nantou and Penghu counties, the data
RSS