TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) paid tribute to former political prisoners during Taiwan’s martial law period for International Human Rights Day on Tuesday.

In a social media post, Lai acknowledged the people who contributed to Taiwan’s democracy, freedom, and human rights during "the oppression of the authoritarian regime.” He called attention to political prisoners of the Kaohsiung Incident, a crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrations in 1979 by the then-authoritarian KMT government.

On Tuesday, the president also spoke at the Asia Democracy and Human Rights Award ceremony by the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD). He reminded Taiwanese that democracy and freedom were hard-earned and could easily regress.

Lai reaffirmed his commitment to defending democracy and called for unity and cooperation to maintain these values in Taiwan. He also pointed to the challenges disinformation and cognitive warfare pose for democracies. 

Lai presented this year’s award and US$100,000 (NT$3.25 million) to Bangladesh’s Odika Human Rights Foundation. The group was recognized for improving Bangladeshi citizens‘ rights over the past 30 years by publishing annual human rights reports despite harassment and imprisonment of its members.