TAIPEI, JUNE 4 : China must appreciate those who fight for democracy and gain greater international respect by extending political rights, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Saturday on the sidelines of Tiananmen Square massacre’s 27th anniversary.
“I have no intention of criticising the Chinese political system, but rather I am willing, with heartfelt sincerity, to share Taiwan’s experience in becoming a democracy,” Tsai wrote on her Facebook page on the anniversary of the deadly crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square in June 1989. Tsai acknowledged China’s economic progress and improvement in the quality of life of its citizens, which she attributed to efforts made by “the ruling party on the other side of the Taiwan Strait” the Communist Party of China.
The Taiwanese body in charge of China Affairs, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), reiterated in a statement on Friday that China should work towards healing the wounds left by the ‘massacre’ at Tiananmen Square and embrace reforms.
Freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law “are a way of life and universal values cherished by people around the world,” the statement said. The MAC noted that China has recently proposed a “people-centred” development view and has vowed to maintain social justice and protect human rights. China’s efforts in recent years to fight corruption and promote legal and institutional reforms show that it is beginning to respond to the demands of young people who participated in the Tiananmen Square demonstrations, it added.
“We hope that mainland China will ... continue to build a more open, fair, just and harmonious society from the institutional side,” the statement said.
After weeks of pro-democracy protests in 1989, Chinese tanks and troops opened fire on civilians in Tiananmen Square on June 4, resulting the death of over 3,000.
