No matter how China develops politically, democracy will be its final destiny, said President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in an article in remembrance of today's 16th anniversary of the Tiananmen Massacre.
The massacre began in Beijing on June 4, 1989, when the Chinese authorities brutally instructed troops to crush pro-democracy demonstrators gathered in Tiananmen Square.
In his weekly e-newsletter published yesterday, the president said it is time to review political developments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait since 1989.
While the massacre stymied China's democratic development, Chen said Taiwan has since accelerated its democratic reforms and has emerged as the "democratic lighthouse" of the world's Chinese societies.
Judging from Taiwan's experience, Chen said he is convinced that repressive rule only restricts humans temporarily, and cannot constrain them for ever.
The value of democracy lies in the fact that diverse opinions can co-exist, Chen said, "although sometimes clamoring might appear in an occasional display of disorder,this, however, cannot be used as an excuse to take away the people's right to be their own boss."
"Pursuing democracy is our ideal, and protecting democracy is our responsibility," Chen said in the article. "Although to China, the shadow of Tiananmen might gradually fade away, the `sun' of democracy is dawning quietly in various corners of China."
"I believe that no matter how bumpy China's political development might be, democracy will be its final destiny," Chen said. "I earnestly hope that China's leaders can respect and protect the people's right to free choice, and hope that the universal values of freedom and democracy will blossom in China eventually."
INFRASTRUCTURE: Work on the second segment, from Kaohsiung to Pingtung, is expected to begin in 2028 and be completed by 2039, the railway bureau said Planned high-speed rail (HSR) extensions would blanket Taiwan proper in four 90-minute commute blocs to facilitate regional economic and livelihood integration, Railway Bureau Deputy Director-General Yang Cheng-chun (楊正君) said in an interview published yesterday. A project to extend the high-speed rail from Zuoying Station in Kaohsiung to Pingtung County’s Lioukuaicuo Township (六塊厝) is the first part of the bureau’s greater plan to expand rail coverage, he told the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). The bureau’s long-term plan is to build a loop to circle Taiwan proper that would consist of four sections running from Taipei to Hualien, Hualien to
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