Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng (陳光誠), who is studying law at New York University, said on Wednesday that China should learn from Taiwan and move toward democracy.
He said that if China could respond to public calls and build a society based on the Constitution and ruled by law with justice, democracy and freedom, the Chinese Communist Party could, like Taiwan’s Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT), find its right orientation.
Chen made the remarks during a discussion with Jerome Cohen, a professor of law at New York University, on the subject of China’s future legal system and human rights.
One Chinese student asked about his views on the idea that democracy is not suitable for China, to which Chen replied that he does not approve of a complete transplantation of Western-style democracy to China.
He cited the British monarchy as an example, saying that while the UK is a democratic county, it has a royal family.
He said he would be absolutely opposed to a monarchy in Taiwan.
Chen said that although China cannot copy Western democracy completely, “it is all right to be 98 percent similar.”
Even if it cannot learn from Western democracies, and a Western-style democracy is unsuitable for China, the country “could learn from the East and learn from Taiwan’s democracy,” he said.
He called on the Chinese authorities to respond to people’s aspirations and warned them that time is running out.
This is because Chinese have gradually lost patience, as injustice has become more serious and calls for reforms have become louder, he said.
Beijing should push for democratic reform to put its people at ease, he added.
The 41-year-old, a self-taught lawyer, suffered years of persecution in China for his legal actions against forced abortion and for citizens’ rights.
He was at the center of a diplomatic tussle between China and the US when he fled house arrest in rural China and sought refuge in the US embassy in Beijing.
China subsequently let him leave for the US.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
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Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
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