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President Lai Ching-te used social media on Wednesday to mark the 36th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Massacre, emphasising the value of protecting freedom and democracy, according to a report by Focus Taiwan.
"Every year on June 4, Taiwanese society lights candles of commemoration anchored in the universal ideals shared by democracies," Lai stated, adding that the act was "not just about commemorating the history but also about maintaining the memory" of the incident, according to Focus Taiwan. Democracies "have a duty" to preserve history, he said, whereas authoritarian regimes obliterate it. According to the Focus Taiwan report, Lai also cautioned that the threat of authoritarianism through monitoring, extraterritorial repression, military intimidation, and grey-zone coercion still poses a threat to democratic societies around the world 36 years later. He said Taiwan will continue to engage with like-minded allies to "safeguard the status quo" and maintain democracy and freedom, adding that Taiwan is on the frontlines of defending democratic ideals globally, according to Focus Taiwan. Lai claimed that Taiwan's transition to democracy was made possible by the sacrifices and hard work of many pro-democracy activists, after decades of authoritarian rule. He stated, "We deeply understand the value of freedom and must not ignore the threats posed by authoritarian expansion to global democracy and the rule of law," as cited by Focus Taiwan report. Under the direction of then-Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese military violently suppressed peaceful Chinese student protesters who had assembled in Beijing's Tiananmen Square to demand political reform in the early hours of June 4, 1989. The tragedy, which is still a sensitive and extensively suppressed topic in China, is thought to have killed between several hundred and possibly over 1,000 people, according to a Focus Taiwan report; however, some speculate that the death toll may have been greater. (ANI)
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