Political leaders yesterday marked the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre with declarations that mostly emphasized shoring up democracy at home or sympathy for the pursuit of freedom in China.
President William Lai (賴清德) in a Facebook post said the world was mesmerized by young Chinese standing up for freedom in Beijing 35 years ago as a tide of democracy swept through Asia.
Taiwan was blessed by its forebears whose sacrifices transformed the erstwhile dictatorship into a democracy, and by generations of young people who picked up the torch and continued the fight for freedom, Lai said.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The lineage of youth activism in Taiwan ran from the Wild Lily and Wild Strawberry student movements to the Sunflower and Qingniao (bluebird) movements, Lai said, referring to the latest protests against controversial legislative reforms.
A nation truly worthy of respect is one in which people can freely speak their minds and any polity should bravely face the voice of the people, especially young people, he said.
Societal reform cannot occur without allowing a diversity of opinions and empowering young people to act as catalysts of change, Lai said, adding that the state should encourage and protect young people, not suppress them.
Photo: screen grab from William Lai’s Facebook page
Taiwan would continue to strive to preserve the memory of the massacre so that it would never vanish in the tide of history, he said.
“We are committed to forming a consensus with democracy, responding to dictatorship with freedom and courageously confronting the challenge of authoritarian expansionism with solidarity, and to cooperating with like-minded nations to make the world a better place,” Lai said.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) in a Facebook post said: “The two sides across the Taiwan Strait have never been closer in a historical moment and ideology than the days leading to June 4.”
Taiwanese students gathered at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial in a gesture of support for their Chinese counterparts at Tiananmen Square, later bearing witness to the massacre, Chu said.
The ties that bind the two sides are not only history, culture and blood, but the pursuit of freedom, democracy, human dignity and other universal values, he said.
“We must remember June 4 because the two sides across the strait are still bound together in destiny and because this page of Chinese history must never be forgotten,” he said. “The KMT will forever stand beside those who pursue freedom and democracy as its friends and we will always defend the Republic of China.”
Taiwan People’s Party Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) in a Facebook post said: “A nation will not make progress if it does not confront difficult moments in its history.”
The Tiananmen Square Massacre created a trauma in the Chinese psyche that 35 years of economic progress cannot heal, Ko said.
The Taiwanese government did not apologize for the 228 Incident in 1947 for 48 years, he said, adding that the families of the victims, including his own, had suffered in silence during that time.
Ko spent his childhood watching his father quietly shed tears every Feb. 28, turning the date into a bitter one for him as well, he said.
“I share my feelings with friends across the Taiwan Strait, which is that there can be no forgiveness without truth, no reconciliation without forgiveness and no peace without reconciliation,” he said.
“The time has come to rehabilitate” the Tiananmen Square protesters, he added.
Additional reporting by Shih Hsiao-kuang
ENDEAVOR MANTA: The ship is programmed to automatically return to its designated home port and would self-destruct if seized by another party The Endeavor Manta, Taiwan’s first military-specification uncrewed surface vehicle (USV) tailor-made to operate in the Taiwan Strait in a bid to bolster the nation’s asymmetric combat capabilities made its first appearance at Kaohsiung’s Singda Harbor yesterday. Taking inspiration from Ukraine’s navy, which is using USVs to force Russia’s Black Sea fleet to take shelter within its own ports, CSBC Taiwan (台灣國際造船) established a research and development unit on USVs last year, CSBC chairman Huang Cheng-hung (黃正弘) said. With the exception of the satellite guidance system and the outboard motors — which were purchased from foreign companies that were not affiliated with Chinese-funded
PERMIT REVOKED: The influencer at a news conference said the National Immigration Agency was infringing on human rights and persecuting Chinese spouses Chinese influencer “Yaya in Taiwan” (亞亞在台灣) yesterday evening voluntarily left Taiwan, despite saying yesterday morning that she had “no intention” of leaving after her residence permit was revoked over her comments on Taiwan being “unified” with China by military force. The Ministry of the Interior yesterday had said that it could forcibly deport the influencer at midnight, but was considering taking a more flexible approach and beginning procedures this morning. The influencer, whose given name is Liu Zhenya (劉振亞), departed on a 8:45pm flight from Taipei International Airport (Songshan airport) to Fuzhou, China. Liu held a news conference at the airport at 7pm,
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
RSS