TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taiwan's Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) commemorated the 36th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests (天安門事件) Wednesday (June 4) with a pointed social media message emphasizing Taiwan's democratic transformation. In his Facebook post, the premier juxtaposed Taiwan's political progress against China's ongoing censorship of the student-led movement that ended in a violent military crackdown. Cho characterized Taiwan as standing at the vanguard of worldwide democratic resistance to authoritarian governance.
Drawing on personal experience, the 65-year-old premier reflected on 1989 as a watershed moment in his own political career when he secured his first electoral victory as a Taipei City Council member. Cho contextualized Taiwan's situation at that time, explaining that the island had recently emerged from nearly four decades of martial law restrictions, unleashing an unprecedented wave of grassroots activism and democratic expression. The premier situated Taiwan's democratic awakening within the broader international context of 1989, noting the period's historic significance with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and democratic transitions across Eastern European nations including Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
The premier underscored Taiwan's remarkable democratic development, highlighting the island's achievement of conducting eight direct presidential elections and experiencing three smooth transitions of power between different political parties since democratization began. These milestones, Cho suggested, demonstrate Taiwan's unwavering dedication to democratic principles and civil liberties. He elaborated that citizens across Taiwan now routinely exercise fundamental constitutional rights previously denied under authoritarian rule, including voting in free elections, initiating recall campaigns against underperforming officials, and publicly voicing criticism of government policies without facing state-sponsored intimidation or punishment.
Drawing a stark comparison, the premier observed that across the Taiwan Strait, mainland Chinese citizens continue to be deprived of these essential human rights and democratic freedoms more than three and a half decades after the Tiananmen crackdown. Cho referenced international validation of Taiwan's democratic achievements, noting that Freedom House, a respected global democracy watchdog organization, classifies Taiwan among the world's free countries in its annual assessments. Concluding his message, the premier reaffirmed his administration's dedication to protecting individual freedoms, fostering innovation, and enabling personal aspirations for all Taiwanese citizens, describing this commitment as simultaneously an obligation and a defining purpose of his government. ◼