《TAIPEI TIMES》Taiwan must guard freedom, Lai says

President William Lai speaks at an event in an undated photo. Photo: Chen Cheng-yu, Taipei Times

RESOLVE: Forgetting history is the greatest threat to democracy, Lai said, as he warned of China’s attempts to interfere in democratic societies worldwide

By Chen Cheng-yu and Hollie Younger / Staff reporter, with staff writer

Taiwanese must trust in democracy and maintain their resolve to protect their country, President William Lai （賴清德） said yesterday, speaking on the 39th anniversary of the lifting of martial law in Taiwan.

People must remain alert to threats from China’s, including military intimidation, “gray zone” tactics, lawfare, cognitive warfare and “united front” activities, he said.

Democratic Progressive Party （DPP） spokesman Justin Wu （吳崢） relayed Lai’s comments at a meeting of the DPP Central Standing Committee in Taipei.

Wu said Lai urged Taiwanese to unite to protect democracy and prevent authoritarianism from encroaching on Taiwan in any form.

Regardless of whether authoritarianism come from within or abroad, or takes the form of military threats, economic coercion, lawfare or cognitive warfare, Taiwanese must stand firm in protecting the nation’s democracy, sovereignty and freedom, Lai said.

These are not only Taiwan’s most precious values, but the firm beliefs of generations of Taiwanese, he said.

Taiwan suffered 38 years and 56 days of martial law, one of the longest periods of martial law in the world, he said.

Under the authoritarian rule of the then-Chinese Nationalist Party （KMT） regime, Taiwanese were denied the basic freedoms of assembly, association, speech and publication, Lai said.

The Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the Communist Rebellion （動員戡亂時期臨時條款） and an extensive intelligence network were used to keep Taiwanese under constant surveillance and supress dissent, he said.

Many intellectuals, democracy advocates and normal people were arrested, imprisoned and persecuted without due process, while their family members were surveilled, discriminated against and stigmatized, Lai said.

Those abuses formed the White Terror era, one of the darkest periods in Taiwan’s history, he added.

The end of martial law is the result of countless sacrifices and hard-won battles by Taiwanese, who fought for democracy, freedom and human rights, he said.

However, in the past few years, China has continued to expand the extraterritorial reach of its laws, including through the March 2005 “Anti-Secession” Law and the Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law, which took effect on July 1, Lai said.

Both exemplify China’s attempt to extend its authoritarian reach beyond its borders to repress democratic societies, he said.

The 39th anniversary should serve as a reminder that the greatest enemy of democracy is not history itself, but forgetting it, while the biggest threat to freedom is not external pressure, but losing the resolve to protect and defend it, he said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES