Reactions of Taiwanese Presidents to the Anniversary of Tienanmen Square Massacre
As a democratic society, political parties rival on many topics in Taiwan.
That is why it was surprising when two important figures, one from the pro-independent DPP and the other from the pro-unification KMT, hold the same opinion on one very event: the massacre of protesting students and workers on the Tienanmen square on 4th of June, 1989.
For Those of You Who Don’t Know What Happened in 1989
Tsai-Ing Wen (President of Taiwan, DPP)
“Back then, the Chinese government sent out troops, tanks and guns to crush the students and the people on the square, and portrayed it as a riot settled down by them.
For decades, mainland China failed to walk away from the shadows of this historic tragedy.
On the contrary, the 228 incident and Formosa incident in Taiwan were also once portrayed as riots by the authority. But the social momentum raised and accumulated from these events eventually drove the political reform and the total democratization of Taiwan. Over those years, we have taken up the responsibilities of history, persisted in the pursuit of truth, and the redress and compensation to victims and their families.
I hope one day the netizens of China no longer need to bypass the firewall to freely view my facebook page. I hope that both sides of the strait can share the universal values of freedom and democracy, and give the people a greater space for mutual understanding and cooperation. This is a goal the governments of both sides can strive together.”
Ma-Ying Jeou (Former President of Taiwan, KMT)
“Both 228 incident and the White Terror were like the June Fourth Incident, which all led to many innocent victims. The Taiwanese government has begun facing the history and bearing the responsibility since thirty years ago, and it is still working hard to seek forgiveness from the families and the offspring (of the victims). If the Taiwanese government can, why can’t the Chinese communist government?
As I once said when I was the major of the Taipei city, ‘there will be no discussion of unification if there is no redress on June Fourth incident’. My stance is still the same. ‘Face the history and speak about the truth. Face the families of the victims and show empathy.’ Only then will the psychological distance of the people on both sides of the strait truly come close, and only then will communism China become a genuine great nation in the eyes of the world.”
Frankly speaking, Ma is already out of the executive core of the KMT party, and his values has always been marginalized in the party; further more, the two sequential presidents both have a bad record of oppressing street protests.
Nonetheless, such statements still show to the world how far Taiwan has gone from the martial government three decades ago, and how different the two nations of the opposite sides of the strait has become since then.
But it is far from enough to only remember the death and sorrows happened during spring 1989. It is really a sad thing that the world remembers 89' Germany with images of fall of Berlin wall, while it remembers 89' China with images of tanks running into crowds.
So let us not forget the calls and cries of the students and workers gathered on Tienanmen square then. Those calls and cries still hold valid even today.
