President Tsai Ing-wen on Monday commemorated prominent democracy activist Fu Cheng on the 30th anniversary of his death. She spoke about Fu’s legacy, during an event at Soochow University.
Fu was a professor at the university and he wrote for underground pro-democracy publications at a time when media censorship was common in Taiwan. Fu was also a founding member of Tsai’s party – the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
Tsai says Fu was instrumental to the establishment of democracy in Taiwan. She says Fu advocated for the existence of opposition parties, which could monitor one another and keep leaders honest. Tsai says that when it came to Fu’s pursuit of democracy, he was relentless.
The president says that everyone in Taiwan should learn about Fu’s life in order to gain a better appreciation for the current state of Taiwan society.