A segment of the Berlin Wall was erected in the garden of the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD) in Taipei yesterday to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall, but the foundation declined to draw parallels with Taiwan.
During the unveiling ceremony, Legislative Speaker Wang Jin-pyng (王金平), who is also the foundation’s chairman, said that the fall of the wall ushered in the “third wave” of democratization.
Both the fall of the wall and Taiwan’s successful transition were proof of the universal aspiration of all humanity for democracy, freedom and human rights, he said.
PHOTO: CNA
Wang urged the public to refrain from linking the wall segment to unification with China.
“It’s too early to talk about unification,” he said. “Many people think that it may not happen during our lifetimes.”
The donation of the segment was not a sensitive issue, he said, and there had been no word about it from Beijing.
Wang said he hoped Taiwan’s democratization could influence other Asian nations, especially China, to become more democratic.
Wang said President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) had wanted to attend the unveiling, but had sent Presidential Office Secretary-General Liao Liou-yi (廖了以) as his representative.
Wang said the foundation had been informed in April that the government of Oberhavel District in Brandenburg State was willing to donate a segment of the wall as a token of hope for Taiwan’s work on human rights and a symbol of Taiwan’s quest for freedom and democracy. The message had been conveyed by the then-chairman of the Memorial Foundation of 228, Chen Chin-huang (陳錦煌), who is now chairman of the Hsin Kang Foundation, he said.
Representative to Germany Wei Wu-lien (魏武煉) accepted the gift on July 20 and arranged for its shipment, Wang said.
The German Institute in Taipei also provided assistance, including bringing German human rights activist Joern Mothes from the former East Germany to speak at yesterday’s ceremony, he said.
The 3.5m by 1.2m, 2.5-tonne segment has been placed temporarily in the TFD’s garden. Wang said the foundation would incorporate it into its new building as a public monument. He said for Taiwan, the wall segment was not only an artifact, but a symbol of the values of democracy, freedom and human rights that the public would cherish forever.
Wang said the “Berlin Wall” across the Taiwan Strait was torn down 22 years ago when the government allowed Taiwanese to visit their families in China. Since the government abolished the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion (動員戡亂時期臨時條款) in 1991, there has been no immediate threat of military conflict in the Strait, he said.
Wang said while the government “is doing what it is supposed to do to tear down the wall in the Taiwan Strait,” both sides need to work to prevent a military conflict and if a peace agreement could be signed, peace would be more sustainable.
“Everybody is watching how the leaders of both sides handle a peace accord,” he said.
In his keynote speech yesterday, Mothes said the Berlin Wall was a symbol of division, dictatorship and repression.
Mothes, born in 1962, a year after the wall was erected, said the wall divided Germany and his family.
“The question whether to stay in the GDR [German Democratic Republic] or to try to leave the country was a question people like my parents asked themselves almost every day,” he said.
The fall of the wall was the happiest moment of his life, he said.
“This part of the wall tells us that freedom and political change by peaceful means is possible,” he said. “A life of dignity and self-determination should be possible everywhere.”
‘CORRECT IDENTIFICATION’: Beginning in May, Taiwanese married to Japanese can register their home country as Taiwan in their spouse’s family record, ‘Nikkei Asia’ said The government yesterday thanked Japan for revising rules that would allow Taiwanese nationals married to Japanese citizens to list their home country as “Taiwan” in the official family record database. At present, Taiwanese have to select “China.” Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said the new rule, set to be implemented in May, would now “correctly” identify Taiwanese in Japan and help protect their rights, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. The statement was released after Nikkei Asia reported the new policy earlier yesterday. The name and nationality of a non-Japanese person marrying a Japanese national is added to the
AT RISK: The council reiterated that people should seriously consider the necessity of visiting China, after Beijing passed 22 guidelines to punish ‘die-hard’ separatists The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has since Jan. 1 last year received 65 petitions regarding Taiwanese who were interrogated or detained in China, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. Fifty-two either went missing or had their personal freedoms restricted, with some put in criminal detention, while 13 were interrogated and temporarily detained, he said in a radio interview. On June 21 last year, China announced 22 guidelines to punish “die-hard Taiwanese independence separatists,” allowing Chinese courts to try people in absentia. The guidelines are uncivilized and inhumane, allowing Beijing to seize assets and issue the death penalty, with no regard for potential
‘UNITED FRONT’ FRONTS: Barring contact with Huaqiao and Jinan universities is needed to stop China targeting Taiwanese students, the education minister said Taiwan has blacklisted two Chinese universities from conducting academic exchange programs in the nation after reports that the institutes are arms of Beijing’s United Front Work Department, Minister of Education Cheng Ying-yao (鄭英耀) said in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper) published yesterday. China’s Huaqiao University in Xiamen and Quanzhou, as well as Jinan University in Guangzhou, which have 600 and 1,500 Taiwanese on their rolls respectively, are under direct control of the Chinese government’s political warfare branch, Cheng said, citing reports by national security officials. A comprehensive ban on Taiwanese institutions collaborating or
STILL COMMITTED: The US opposes any forced change to the ‘status quo’ in the Strait, but also does not seek conflict, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said US President Donald Trump’s administration released US$5.3 billion in previously frozen foreign aid, including US$870 million in security exemptions for programs in Taiwan, a list of exemptions reviewed by Reuters showed. Trump ordered a 90-day pause on foreign aid shortly after taking office on Jan. 20, halting funding for everything from programs that fight starvation and deadly diseases to providing shelters for millions of displaced people across the globe. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who has said that all foreign assistance must align with Trump’s “America First” priorities, issued waivers late last month on military aid to Israel and Egypt, the
RSS