Chen made the remarks in the latest issue of his online newsletter, ahead of the 18th anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre in Beijing in which thousands of pro-democracy demonstrators were killed by People’s Liberation Army troops.

“Over the past 18 years, tremendous changes have taken place in China, but the only thing that has remained unchanged is China’s totalitarianism and its relentless suppression of freedom and democracy,” Chen said.

However, many people have been reluctant to face up to the truth of the lack of democracy, freedom and human rights in China, using China’s economic development as an excuse, Chen said.

The president noted that two years before the Tiananmen Square massacre,Taiwan lifted martial law and officially renounced authoritarianism, which blazed a democratic trail for ethnic Chinese communities around the world.

As Taiwan is learning and exploring ways to improve its democratic system, there are differences within the nation over the democratization effort, with some people questioning whether Taiwan has paid too much attention to democratization and neglected economic growth, Chen pointed out.

“As a matter of fact, democracy is not only a political system, it is also a lifestyle and value covering all aspects including politics, society, economy and spiritual life, which means that democracy and the economy cannot be separated from each other or made opposites,” Chen said.

He said history has proven that a strong and prosperous country that is undemocratic is often the “most dangerous and aggressive” kind, pointing to the examples of Japan and Germany before World War II and the Soviet Union after World War II.

This shows that the combination of rapid economic growth and dictatorship always give rise to militarism, acts of aggression and the pursuit of hegemony, Chen said.

“A country ruled by dictatorship, without monitoring by the people and parliament, tends to resort to war to divert public attention to domestic conflicts,” he said.

He noted that since the Tiananmen Square massacre, China’s military spending has registered double-digit growth every year, a rate that is faster than its economic growth and far beyond its needs for self-defense.

He warned that China’s effort to advance from a regional power to a global military superpower will have profound impact on China and the whole world.

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