A proposed resolution calling on China to apologize for the Tiananmen Square Massacre stalled in the legislature yesterday after objections by Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers.
Although the KMT caucus agreed with a Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) motion to put the proposal at the top of yesterday’s plenary agenda, it then suggested referring the proposal to cross-party talks rather than putting it to a direct vote.
That could stall the proposal by up to one month.
PHOTO: CNA
The DPP initiated the proposal to mark the 20th anniversary of the massacre tomorrow.
If the proposal is passed, it would be the first time the legislature has called on China to admit to and apologize for the 1989 military crackdown.
“The DPP hereby submits the most significant resolution in [Taiwanese] history. We know clearly that the June 4 Incident is a major historical event related to human rights and freedom,” DPP caucus whip Ker Chien-ming (柯建銘) said.
“This year will mark the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre. We believe the legislature and the government should express their position on the incident,” Ker said.
Ker criticized President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), saying that he had kept a low profile rather than speaking out in support of Chinese dissidents since being sworn in.
“Redress the unjust June 4 Incident and oppose tyranny,” DPP lawmakers chanted on the legislative floor after the KMT blocked the proposal.
The KMT also blocked a DPP proposal urging the Myanmar junta to release democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi.
The proposal would also require that the government play an active role in supporting Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese in their pursuit of democracy and freedom.
The proposal calls on the government to consider imposing economic sanctions unless Myanmar improves its human rights record and makes the transition to democracy.
“The government and the KMT should take this next step fearlessly as Taiwan upholds its dignity as a beacon of democracy in Asia,” DPP Legislator Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said.
KMT caucus secretary-general Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔) said later yesterday that although the KMT supported human rights, the caucus believed the wording of the two proposals should be changed.
She did not elaborate.
Meanwhile, DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday asked the president to call on the Chinese government to compensate the victims of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
“I also asked President Ma to list democracy and human rights as subjects for future cross-strait talks,” Tsai said in a speech at a DPP forum on challenges to the nation’s democracy, human rights in Tibet and the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Tsai criticized the president for not publicly acknowledging and condemning the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the Tiananmen crackdown.
Ma had done so for years but stopped when he became president, Tsai said.
Tsai said Ma was also silent on human rights violations in Tibet and had rejected the Dalai Lama’s request to visit Taiwan, thereby siding with the CCP on oppression in Tibet.
“For short-term economic interests from China, Ma has paid a high cost by abandoning the values of human rights and democracy,” she said.
“If Taiwan does not discuss human rights and democracy in cross-strait talks, democracy and human rights might one day be in danger in Taiwan. And if China continues to oppress democracy and human rights, any results of cross-strait talks are dangerous, fragile and unsure. Only a democratized China would lead to a peaceful and healthy cross-strait relationship,” Tsai said.
She urged Ma to call on the CCP to stop oppressing Tibetans, respect their rights, including the right to self-determination, and reveal the truth about the crackdown on protests in Tibet last year.
Ma should also urge China to release Chinese writer Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波), she said.
Liu was detained by police on Dec. 8 ahead of the publication of Charter 08, a document he co-authored calling for stronger civil rights and an end to the CPP’s political dominance.
Taiwan Friends of Tibet (TFOT) chairwoman Chow Mei-li (周美里) told the forum Ma had visited a Liberty Square protest last March against China’s oppression of Tibet, but had been silent on the issue since taking office.
Fort Liao (廖福特), an Academia Sinica research fellow, said Ma was friendly with the CCP and praised Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) and his son Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國), but both the CCP and the Chiangs are symbols of human rights violations.
It was therefore not surprising that Ma was pushing measures that jeopardized Taiwan’s human rights and democracy, Liao said.
Chen Chun-kai (陳君愷), a history professor at Fu Jen Catholic University, said both the CCP and the KMT stressed nationalism and regimes that promote nationalism tend to violate the principles of democracy and human rights.
Meanwhile, legislators passed an amendment to the Referendum Act (公投法) that cancels a requirement that the number of seats each party holds on the Executive Yuan’s Referendum Review Committee be proportional to the party’s legislative seats.
The Council of Grand Justices last year said the committee’s makeup was unconstitutional.
The amendment now empowers the president to appoint candidates recommended by the Cabinet.
A single political party must not control half or more than half of the seats, the amendment states.
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