On the 15th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, academics and officials yesterday said Taiwan could serve as a role model for China's democratization.
The Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) yesterday held a seminar to mark the anniversary of the ill-fated, pro-democracy demonstrations, during which participants encouraged China's democratic movement to continue moving forward.
Ruan Ming (阮銘), a visiting professor at Tamkang University and a former special assistant to Hu Yaobang (胡耀邦), the late general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), said yesterday that Taiwan's situation was a unique example of political change in the wake of the "third wave" of global democratization and that its experiences would shed significant light on democratization in China.
Quoting US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia James Kelly's remarks that Taiwan was a democratic model not only for Asia but also the world, Ruan said the nation's democratic experience was particularly influential in the case of China because the two countries had both experienced Leninist autocratic rule.
"The KMT and the CCP were basically twins in the communist world. Taiwan, once under KMT dictatorship, has evolved from a Leninist party-state into the present democracy due to the rise of a social democratic movement. That makes Taiwan a unique democratic model and we hope to see similar changes in China in the future," Ruan said.
Ruan said he was optimistic regarding the fourth-generation Chinese leadership of President Hu Jintao (胡錦濤) and Premier Wen Jiabao (溫家寶) who, compared with former president Jiang Zemin (江澤民), were more open regarding the future direction of China.
Although the new leadership's priority was the economy, Ruan said the need for sustainable economic development underlined the need to avoid significant cross-strait tension for another two decades.
"Hu Jintao has a plan to `build a prosperous society in a comprehensive way' by 2020, and the priority for the Chinese citizenry remains economic stability. Until China reaches that goal, therefore, it can't afford to wage war against Taiwan. It will rely heavily on Taiwanese investment in China, especially from those [firms] like the Chi Mei Group," Ruan said.
Chi Mei Group figurehead Hsu Wen-lung (許文龍) was recently censured by China as an unwelcome Taiwanese businessman over his pro-independence stance.
Ruan urged stepped-up efforts in accelerating cross-strait exchanges, a move which would contribute to the liberalization of Chinese society.
However, Lin Wen-cheng (
He said there was no sign that the CCP's political grip was loosening, which many regard to be a precondition for the beginning of top-down democratization.
Lin said that China is experiencing a power struggle between Jiang and Hu.
"As long as these two factions are fighting with one another, they will not risk changing cross-strait policy. They can only adopt a hardline stance out of fear of instability," Lin said.
Lin also predicted that China would not express any goodwill to Taiwan until after December's legislative elections because China was still hoping that the pan-blue alliance can retain its majority.
DPP Deputy Secretary-General Lee Ying-yuan (
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by