HONORING NYLON DENG: Free speech is not an abstract concept, and ‘disinformation’ from outside the nation is a challenge to the values that Taiwanese hold dear, Tsai said
Taipei Times
Date: Apr 08, 2019
By: Lin Hsin-han and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday warned of threats to the nation’s democracy
President Tsai Ing-wen stands next to a picture of democracy activist Deng Nan-jung yesterday at a ceremony commemorating Deng in Keelung.Photo: Lin Hsin-han, Taipei Times
and the importance of free speech as she attended a commemoration ceremony in Keelung for democracy advocate Deng Nan-jung (鄭南榕).
Yesterday’s ceremony, part of Freedom of Expression Day celebrations, marked the 30th anniversary of the death of the publisher, also known as Nylon Deng, by self-immolation in his Taipei office after a 71-day standoff with police, who wanted to arrest him on charges of sedition in January 1989 for publishing a draft “Taiwan Republic Constitution” in his magazine, Freedom Era Weekly.
“[China] wants to use our democracy against us. I simply cannot accept this, and I believe Taiwanese in general would not accept this,” she said.
“As president I will persevere in the fight for democracy,” she said. [FULL STORY]
