Exiled Chinese democracy activist Wang Dan (王丹) said in Taipei yesterday he regretted that a “planned” meeting with President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) in Taipei before the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre had not materialized.
“A confident government would not avoid the issue of the Tiananmen Square [Massacre], and I believe long-term peaceful cross-strait relations can only take place after China is democratized,” Wang told a press conference at Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) headquarters yesterday afternoon after visiting DPP Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).
“I welcome the DPP’s publishing of a resolution requesting that the Chinese Communist Party [CCP] apologize and compensate victims of the massacre,” he added.
“I have visited Taiwan many times over the years, and found that the Chinese Nationalist Party [KMT] has more misgivings than the DPP about talking with me,” Wang said, adding that while the former DPP government often voiced support for human rights in China, the KMT has been silent since becoming the governing party.
Wang was one of the student leaders behind a number of protests that resulted in the CCP’s bloody crackdown on Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Tsai yesterday called on the president to publicly acknowledge and condemn the CCP for the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
Tsai said that Ma had been doing exactly that for years, but promptly stopped when Ma became president last year.
She added that while China has oppressed democracy movements domestically and overseas, Taiwan also faced a democratic crisis since the KMT came to power.
She said that, after meeting Wang yesterday, she decided the DPP would seek more contacts with Chinese civil society and Chinese democracy activists to promote universal values.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Office yesterday dismissed allegations that Ma had canceled a meeting with Wang and said Ma has been consistent in his stance on the Tiananmen Square Massacre.
Presidential Office Spokesman Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) said officials had been unable to finalize the details for setting up a meeting between Ma and Wang Dan, although they did try to find a suitable time for them to meet.
“We are not going back on any promise,” the spokesman said. “We tried, but we did not make any promises.”
Wang Yu-chi made the remarks in response to a question about a report in yesterday’s Chinese-language Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister paper).
The report quoted Wang Dan as saying the Presidential Office notified him before he visited Taiwan that a meeting had been scheduled for last Wednesday or Thursday. However, the meeting was later canceled, Wang Dan said, adding that he did not know why and regretted the development.
Wang Yu-chi said Ma’s schedule was usually booked one month in advance, but Wang Dan had inquired last week about the possibility of meeting the president.
Ma was particularly busy before and after the first anniversary of his inauguration and some of the arrangements were canceled, Wang Yu-chi said.
The spokesman reiterated that Ma was consistent in his attitude toward the 1989 massacre and would issue a statement to the press corps on the plane when he returns from a 10-day visit to Central America next Thursday.
Ma will embark on the trip to Central America today.
Wang Dan told the Liberty Times on Sunday that Ma used to care about the Tiananmen Square democracy activists. They had met every year when Ma was Taipei mayor, he said, but he has not had a chance to meet Ma since he was elected president in March last year.
In related news, Wang Yu-chi said that while it was regretful that former South Korean president Roh had plunged to his death, he acknowledged Roh’s choice to protect his dignity, but not the method he used.
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