Tsai vows to keep safeguarding Taiwan’s freedom, democracy

2019/06/05

President Tsai Ing-wen said June 3 that the government will continue safeguarding Taiwan’s freedom and democratic way of life in the face of rising authoritarian challenges to global rules-based order.
 
 The country has overcome tremendous hardship in its transition to a vibrant democracy, Tsai said. Many selfless sacrifices were made along the way, especially by those involved in the Kaohsiung Incident, she added.
 
 Tsai made the remarks while receiving a delegation of overseas-based democracy activists at the Presidential Office in Taipei City.
 
 According to Tsai, this year marks the 40th and 30th anniversaries, respectively, of the Kaohsiung Incident and Tiananmen Square crackdown. The former occurred Dec. 10, 1979, when Formosa Magazine staffers were arrested and jailed for a demonstration on World Human Rights Day, while the latter took place June 4, 1989, after communist forces brutally suppressed pro-democracy protesters in Beijing.
 
 The Kaohsiung Incident resulted in the persecution of a great number of political dissidents, including former Vice President Annette Hsiu-lien Lu, Secretary-General to the President Chen Chu and Shih Ming-teh, ex-chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party. It also led to the formation of the ruling DPP seven years later.
 
 As part of government efforts to restore historical truths and redress judicial wrongs, Tsai said more than 2,000 victims were exonerated in late May. The convictions occurred from the end of 50 years of Japanese colonial rule Aug. 15, 1945, to the lifting of martial law five years after Taiwan proper in outlying Kinmen and Matsu islands Nov. 7, 1992.
 
 At the same time, the government is deeply concerned about the development of democracy on the other side of the Taiwan Strait, Tsai said. Although China is an economic powerhouse, it must not continue denying its people the right to democracy and suppressing human rights, she added.
 
 In a statement issued the same day, the Cabinet-level Mainland Affairs Council urged Beijing to repent and squarely face wrongdoings of the past, adding that the victims of Tiananmen Square and their families deserve long-overdue justice.
 
 As a beacon of freedom and democracy, Taiwan is resolute in its support for democratic developments on the other side of the strait, the MAC said. The country will never yield to military threats nor suppression of its international space by China, the council added.

Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)