Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Remembering the Tiananmen spirit

Taipei Times Editorial

While the world just commemorated the 35th anniversary of the June 4, 1989, Tiananmen Square Massacre in China, it should also keep an eye out on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) escalating suppression of freedom and democracy.

From the night of June 3, 1989, to dawn of the next day, convoys of Chinese troops and tanks entered central Beijing to clear Tiananmen Square, where hundreds of thousands of students and other people had gathered to demand political reforms and freedoms. While refusing to acknowledge responsibility for the killings, the CCP government has never released an official death toll, but estimates range from several hundred to a few thousand.

Building on growing ties with Japan

Chiu Chih-wei 邱志偉

Following the inauguration of President William Lai (賴清德) on May 20, Taiwan’s representative to Japan said that a delegation of 37 Japanese legislators from across all parties attended the swearing-in ceremony. Also present was the wife of former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe. These attendances mark a new high in bilateral relations.

During her eight years in office, the administration of former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) continued to elevate the status of Taiwan-Japan relations. Not only was Japan’s representative office renamed the “Taiwan-Japan Economic and Cultural Office,” Taiwanese-Japanese amity has expanded in all areas, ranging from tourism to the building of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) newest foundries in Kumamoto.

Taiwan marks Tiananmen Massacre

Taipei Times

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.

Power grab disguised as ‘reform’

Taipei Times Editorial

The Legislative Yuan on Tuesday last week passed a set of controversial bills proposed by opposition lawmakers expanding the legislature’s power of investigation and introducing penalties for “contempt of the legislature.”

The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) have pushed for the passage of the amendments to the Act Governing the Legislative Yuan’s Powers (立法院職權行使法) and the Criminal Code, in the name of “legislative reform” to make the government more transparent and accountable. The bills grant the legislature investigative powers, allowing it to hold hearings and demand that government agencies, the military, judicial officials, organizations and individuals provide information or documents or face fines. They would also criminalize “contempt of the legislature” by civil servants who make false statements during a hearing or questioning in the Legislative Yuan.

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