Unlike China, Taiwan will never let its past fade from its consciousness, Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen commented on her social media on Thursday, June 4.

June 4 forgotten in China each year

In a tweet that included a picture of a calendar showing the June 4 date -- alluding to the Tiananmen Square crackdown that happened on June 4, 1989 -- Tsai said a day out of the 365 days in a year is "purposely forgotten each year" in China.

Around the world, there are 365 days in a year. Yet in China, one of those days is purposely forgotten each year. In Taiwan, there were once days missing from our calendar, but we’ve worked to bring them to light. I hope one day China can say the same.

— 蔡英文 Tsai Ing-wen (@iingwen) June 4, 2020

She then said that while some occasions used to be missing from Taiwan's calendar, Taiwan has worked hard to "bring them to light".

She added that she hopes China can say the same one day.

Tsai was most likely referring to the 228 Incident that happened on Feb. 28, 1947.

Thousands of civilians were killed by the then Kuomintang (KMT)-led government after they gathered in protest against government corruption and authoritarianism, among many other issues. 

Tsai posted on Facebook as well in Chinese, ending her post by saying she hopes nowhere in the world would have "vanished" days, and that she wishes Hong Kong the best.

Silence on U.S. protests inviting criticism from opponents

Tsai has been conspicuously silent on the protests that broke out in the United States over the death of George Floyd, an unarmed African American man who died after being knelt on the neck by a white police officer.

Her silence was criticised by her opponents as not being able to speak out against United States President Donald Trump, whom she is close to.

She has also been slammed for her perceived hypocrisy in defending human rights and democracy in the past, yet choosing to remain silent on the death of George Floyd and the U.S.'s use of force on peaceful protesters.

According to Global Times, former legislator and Deputy Secretary-General of the KMT Alex Tsai said: "The riots have been going on at Hong Kong for several months, yet Beijing has not mobilised the military."

"The protests had only been going on in the U.S. for four days, but the government can't take it anymore, how can they still dare to criticise the Hong Kong police?"

He continued: "That's strange, hasn't the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) always stood for 'human rights'? Why are they not speaking up for the human rights of the African Americans now?"

Meanwhile, Lin He-ming, deputy secretary general of the ruling DPP party has avoided commenting on the protests, saying "it remains to be seen if external forces are involved in escalating the conflict".

Not convenient for Tsai to criticise Trump

Wang Kung-yi, a political science professor at Taipei's Chinese Culture University, told South China Morning Post (SCMP) that it is "not convenient" for Tsai to criticise Trump, given Taiwan's close ties to the U.S.

And because she is likely to be criticised should she say something positive on Trump, she is better off not saying anything, he said.

He added that Tsai condemning police brutality in Hong Kong is different from doing the same for the U.S.

This is because her government stance is to counter Beijing, which makes it natural for her to talk about Hong Kong, a territory under Beijing, he said.

Taiwan watching U.S. closely

Taiwan's presidential spokesperson Ernesto Ting Yun-kung, said on Wednesday, June 3, that the presidential office was watching developments in the U.S. closely, and that they had confidence the conflicts would be resolved fairly, SCMP reported.

He said on June 2 that only under a democratic system would conflicts be appropriately dealt with, and that conversations could take place and cooperation be done, according to New Talk.

 Top image adapted via Tsai Ing-wen's Twitter & Getty Images