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Tsai, Ma urge China to embrace democratic reform

Central News Agency

2016/06/04 13:13:10

Taipei, June 4 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) urged China to treasure those among its people who seek democracy, saying that it can earn more respect from around the world by allowing its people to enjoy more political rights, on the 27th anniversary of the June 4th, 1989 bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Beijing.

In a similar move, former President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九), who stepped down two weeks ago, also called for China to hear diverse voices from the people and treat dissidents well, which he said will help Beijing win respect from the people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait and the international community.

In a carefully-worded post on her personal Facebook page Saturday, Tsai said that she did not mean to criticize China's political system "but rather I am willing, with heartfelt sincerity, to share Taiwan's experience in democratization."

This was Tsai's first comment on the Tiananmen Square massacre of 1989 as president of Taiwan, after she took office on May 20.

Democracy will not fall from the sky, she said.

"The universal values of democracy and human rights are something that is fought for and won by the people," she added.

Tsai recognized China's economic progress and the improvement in the Chinese people's quality of life, which she attributed to the efforts made by "the ruling party on the other side of the strait."

But at the same time, she said it is undeniable that China is facing the pressure to reform.

"If the other side of the strait can give more rights to the people on the Chinese mainland, it will earn more respect from around the world," she added.

She also urged China to treasure those among its people who seek democracy, saying that they are likely to be the people who will move China forward.

Only "the ruling party on the other side of the strait" can heal the past wounds of the Chinese people, she said.

"My responsibility is to protect the democracy and freedom enjoyed by the people of Taiwan and create peaceful, stable, consistent and predictable cross-strait relations," she said.

"Hopefully one day, the views of both sides on democracy and human rights will converge," she added.

Tsai's predecessor, former President Ma, also made remarks on the anniversary of the incident on June 4, 1989, in which Chinese troops and tanks fired on civilians in Beijing's Tiananmen Square after weeks of pro-democracy protests. Estimates of the death toll range from several hundred to thousands.

In a post on his Facebook page Saturday, Ma said inappropriate dealings with civilians' protests or breach of human rights by governments have occurred in many countries, citing cases in the United States, Germany, South Korea and Taiwan.

Noting the experiences of these countries, Ma said that China will earn more respect from the world by "redressing the June 4th incident."

Cross-strait relations are at their best since the two sides separated in 1949, he said, adding that "this is something we definitely should cherish."

"The most effective way (for Beijing) to shorten the distance between the people on the two sides of the strait is to hear the diverse voices of the people and treat dissidents well to establish the mutual core value of the two sides," Ma said.

The massacre remains a taboo subject in China and Chinese authorities have stepped up surveillance of dissidents and rights activists ahead of the 27th anniversary of the massacre.

(By Elaine Hou)
ENDITEM/cs