Hundreds gather in Taiwan to commemorate Tiananmen crackdown

TAIPEI,

Exiled Chinese dissidents Wednesday urged Taiwan to keep the memory of the deadly 1989 Tiananmen crackdown alive as President Ma Ying-jeou described China's crushing of the pro-democracy protests as "an enormous historical wound".

In front of hundreds of sombre protesters, eyewitnesses recalled the moment tanks and armed soldiers rolled into the heart of Beijing 25 years ago to quell weeks of student protests.

"We should not forget the heroes who sacrificed their lives for ideals," said Yang Jianli, a prominent US-based dissident who was in Tiananmen Square at the time.

"The Tank Man's spirit will not die and everybody can be a Tank Man," he said, referring to the anonymous man who famously stood alone blocking a column of tanks in a moment that was captured on camera and became a global symbol of defiance.

"We should not forget, we should not be indifferent and we should not give up," he told a crowd of some 500 people who gathered in Taipei for a candlelit vigil.

HISTORICAL WOUND

Wu'er Kaixi, a prominent student leader in 1989 now living in exile, expressed his agony at being unable to return to see his family and called on Taiwan to continue supporting democratic reforms in China.

"The injustice in China today can threaten the justice we can have tomorrow. I thank the Taiwanese people for their support for us in the past 25 years and I hope the Taiwanese people will continue to stand by us," he said.

Earlier Wednesday, President Ma reiterated his calls on Beijing to treat its dissidents well and to tolerate different opinions in his annual statement marking the anniversary of the 1989 crackdown.

"Facing such an enormous historical wound, I sincerely hope that the mainland authorities will seriously consider and speedily redress the wrongs to ensure that such a tragedy will never happen again."

Ma also urged Beijing to continue carrying out political reforms such as abolishing the forced labour camps last year and to make more efforts to promote democracy and human rights protection.

Ties between Taiwan and China have improved markedly since Ma took office in 2008 on a Beijing-friendly platform. He was reelected in 2012 for a final four-year term.

UNITY OPPOSED

Beijing however still claims the island as part of its territory awaiting reunification by force if necessary although they have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949.

But public surveys in Taiwan have indicated that despite ever closer economic ties with the mainland, an increasing number of Taiwanese oppose reunification -- citing authoritarian rule in China as a key reason.

"I read about the June 4th incident and about China's suppression of the freedom of speech and its dissidents in textbooks. I hope China can tell the truth of the incident and I hope China can be more open and liberal," said Wei Cheng-yen, a 15-year-old student at the vigil.