Written by Evan Fowler. The Tiananmen massacre was a watershed that profoundly changed all our lives. After that day, the shadow of July 1st, 1997, the day Britain would hand Hong Kong over to the People’s Republic of China, hung over my family like a heavy, terrifying dark cloud of worry tinged with fear.
Written by Ross Tandy. When it comes to dealing with China, certain issues are sensitive and have to be dealt with as such. Human rights and Taiwan are two issues that certainly fit these criteria. Following the events of 4 June 1989, the West was united in condemning the acts of China.
Written by John F. Copper. But the facts also say that Lee did not adopt a policy of making China a pariah or isolating and punishing China for the events of June 1989. In fact, Taiwan’s relations with China did not get worse; they got better.
Written by Joseph A. Bosco. The 30th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre reminds us of what remains unchanged in China’s authoritarian government despite decades of Western engagement. The “China dream” espoused by President Xi Jinping is not the same as what the Chinese people dream for their country.
Written by Mark Wenyi Lai. The differences between China’s June Fourth Incident in 1989 and Taiwan’s Wild Lily Student movement in 1990 indicate the cross-Strait increasing divergence of political paths over the past thirty years. The former ended with Type 59 tanks on Tiananmen Square and a more tightened and illiberal CCP governance.
Written by Margaret K. Lewis. The thirtieth anniversary of the massacre in Beijing highlights Taiwan’s importance as a site of protest and its precarious situation as a refugee host.
Written by Kuan-Wei Chen. In Taiwan, which experienced authoritarian rule after World War II, the pursuit of human rights protection was an important task in the process of democratization. The first political party rotation took place in 2000, and during the inauguration of President Chen Shui-bian from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), he declared the important policy guidelines of ‘a nation founded upon the principles of human rights as a goal.
Taiwan Insight 