The Mainland Affairs Council has called on the Chinese government to apologize for the Tiananmen Square crackdown that took place June 4, 1989.
 
In a statement released June 3, the council said it is extremely regrettable that China continues to cover up its use of military force to violently suppress pro-democracy demonstrators 31 years ago in Beijing.
 
China needs to reassess historical events and fast track political reform in response to its people’s request for democracy, the MAC said, adding that a free and open civil society is the only way forward.
 
According to the council, China’s single-party system runs counter to universal values, with its increasingly tight grip resulting in serious human rights violations.
 
These include detaining ethnic minorities in Xinjiang; persecuting religious and political dissidents; suppressing freedom of speech; and proposing to enact a national security law in Hong Kong without the consent of its legislature, the latter of which breaks China’s promise to maintain the one country, two systems model in the special administrative region.
 
Citing President Tsai Ing-wen’s inauguration speech last month, the MAC said peace, parity, democracy and dialogue are key to positive cross-strait interactions.
 
It urged the Chinese government to stop using oppressive measures against Taiwan and release Taiwan national Lee Ming-che, who has been inappropriately apprehended since March 2017.
 
In a post on her official Twitter account, President Tsai Ing-wen said June 4 is a day purposely forgotten each year in China. Taiwan once had days missing from its calendar, but the government and people have worked to bring them back, she said, adding that she hopes China can say the same one day. (SFC-E)