Both the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday issued statements marking the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre. The KMT called on China not to allow history to repeat itself while the DPP urged the Chinese authorities to apologize for the massacre and readdress the miscarriage of justice surrounding the event.
The Tiananmen Square Massacre was an unfortunate event, KMT spokesman Lee Chien-jung (李建榮) said. Following China’s social and economic development these past 20 years, it should not let history repeat itself, he said.
Freedom and human rights, democracy, and law and order are universal values as well as the common goals pursued by both side of the Taiwan Strait amid the normalization of cross-strait relations, Lee said.
“Cross-strait development and a win-win situation in economic cooperation are the what we are working toward,” Lee said. “An open society tolerates different voices to serve as the foundation for a harmonic society and stimulate society’s progress and the peaceful development of cross-strait relations.”
When asked for comment, KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) yesterday expressed approval for China’s progress in that regard over the past 20 years.
Meanwhile, the DPP said the Chinese government should offer an apology and compensation to the victims of the massacre. President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) should ask China to release Liu Xiaobo (劉曉波) and other activists and include human rights issues in cross-strait talks, the DPP said.
DPP spokesperson Cheng Wen-tsang (鄭文燦) said Ma used to deliver long essays to commemorate the massacre, but he had become silent once he became president.
Taiwan Solidarity Union Chairman Huang Kun-hui (黃昆輝) also asked Ma to stand on the side of conscience and justice and speak for the people of China.
“If he [Ma] really considers himself Chinese, he should not just deal with the Chinese Communist Party and ignore the interests of the Chinese people,” Huang said. “June 4 will be a perfect testing ground to see if Ma is simply succumbing to the Chinese government.”
An undersea cable to Penghu County has been severed, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said today, with a Chinese-funded ship suspected of being responsible. It comes just a month after a Chinese ship was suspected of severing an undersea cable north of Keelung Harbor. The National Communications and Cyber Security Center received a report at 3:03am today from Chunghwa Telecom that the No. 3 cable from Taiwan to Penghu was severed 14.7km off the coast of Tainan, the Ministry of Digital Affairs said. The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) upon receiving a report from Chunghwa Telecom began to monitor the Togolese-flagged Hong Tai (宏泰)
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
Actor Lee Wei (李威) was released on bail on Monday after being named as a suspect in the death of a woman whose body was found in the meeting place of a Buddhist group in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) last year, prosecutors said. Lee, 44, was released on NT$300,000 (US$9,148) bail, while his wife, surnamed Chien (簡), was released on NT$150,000 bail after both were summoned to give statements regarding the woman’s death. The home of Lee, who has retreated from the entertainment business in the past few years, was also searched by prosecutors and police earlier on Monday. Lee was questioned three
RISING TOURISM: A survey showed that tourist visits increased by 35 percent last year, while newly created attractions contributed almost half of the growth Changhua County’s Lukang Old Street (鹿港老街) and its surrounding historical area clinched first place among Taiwan’s most successful tourist attractions last year, while no location in eastern Taiwan achieved a spot in the top 20 list, the Tourism Administration said. The listing was created by the Tourism Administration’s Forward-looking Tourism Policy Research office. Last year, the Lukang Old Street and its surrounding area had 17.3 million visitors, more than the 16 million visitors for the Wenhua Road Night Market (文化路夜市) in Chiayi City and 14.5 million visitors at Tainan’s Anping (安平) historical area, it said. The Taipei 101 skyscraper and its environs —
RSS