President Lee Teng-hui today gave a message on the Republic of China's National Day. The full text of his National Day Message is as follows:
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Today is the 86th National Day of the Republic of China. We are gathered here not only to celebrate the awesome success of the founding of the Republic of China, but more importantly, to reflect upon the revolutionary ideals of our nation's founding fathers, to carry forward their nation-building spirit and to create much greater and brighter prospects for the development of our country.
Nearly a century ago, Dr. Sun Yat-sen drew up blueprints for the development of a democratic, free and equitably prosperous Republic of China. Although the tides of time have been rough, and our nation has encountered many obstacles throughout its 86 years of history, the Republic of China at long last stands tall and firm. At the heart of the ROC's resilience are an unshakable belief in democracy and a responsible attitude toward history. Today, we can proudly say that in the areas currently under the jurisdiction of the Republic of China--Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu--the ideals of Dr. Sun Yat-sen have already been realized. With our spectacular success in building a full-fledged democracy, an open society, a prosperous economy, and good living conditions, we have written a new page in the history of the Chinese people.
The significance of history lies in its ability to pass the torch of wisdom from one generation to the next. The value of history, on the other hand, derives from its power to use its heritage to propel the human spirit forward into the future. Our achievements of today are possible only because of the firm foundation laid down by the countless brave and honorable martyrs who struggled and sacrificed before us. And now, having pushed our nation to new heights of development, we must continue our efforts. We must remain firm in upholding the ideals of democracy and freedom so that we can create a safer, more stable, and more dignified environment for the next generation, enable the ROC to overcome challenges and open new horizons in the face of fierce competition in the 21st century.
For these reasons, we must coalesce the energy of our people toward promoting a national re-engineering that continues to spur national development:
We must make constitutional reform the foundation for the realization of democratic ideals and must actively promote educational reform, judicial reform, administrative reform and cultural development, and establish a fair, just, modern, humanistic and compassionate society. At the same time, laws must be strictly enforced, crime must be effectively combated, and law and order must be strengthened to ensure the safety of the people and restore peace to society.
We will spare no effort in our drive to transform Taiwan into an Asia-Pacific Regional Operations Center. Capitalizing on our many existing advantages, we will make Taiwan a "technology island." At the same time, through the revision of laws and regulations, we will create a more liberal and global environment for economic development, eliminate barriers to investment, eradicate bottlenecks in development, accelerate upgrading of industry, and raise our international competitiveness. Meanwhile, we must emphasize environmental protection and ecological conservation to reach our objective of sustained development through moderate growth and rigorous conservation.
Guided by the principles of unyielding defense and effective deterrence, we must aggressively implement our troop reduction program and complete the acquisition of second-generation weaponry systems in order to build a modern national defense and better ensure our national security. Furthermore, we believe in ensuring regional security and prosperity as well as building a peaceful world, and we are willing to work together with other Asia-Pacific countries to promote regional security and stability.
We will continue to pursue pragmatic diplomacy and contribute to the global village. We will strive to participate in the international community, strengthen cordial and cooperative bonds with friendly nations and enhance substantive relations with those nations with which we do not maintain diplomatic ties. In addition, we will actively take part in international organizations and activities, so that nations around the world must acknowledge the reality of the ROC's existence and development. This will enhance our international status, uphold our dignity in the world and safeguard the rights and interests of our people.
It is our position that cross-strait relations can only be pursued on the conditions that the existence and development of the ROC are maintained and the security and welfare of the 21.6 million people in the Taiwan area are safeguarded. We have stated time and again our most sincere desire to pursue unification under democracy, freedom and equitable distribution of wealth. Regardless of the fact that the mainland authorities have yet to respond with goodwill, we have repeatedly called for the two sides to end the state of hostility across the Taiwan Strait, resume negotiations, and engage in peaceful competition. We sincerely hope that Peking will adopt a pragmatic attitude and an open mind and face up to the reality that Taiwan and the mainland are ruled separately. We also hope that the mainland leadership will take positive actions to increase mutual trust, narrow the gap between the two sides, and allow for an historic new "win-win" era of cross-strait relations.
Ladies and Gentlemen: During the past half century, we have worked together hand in hand with singular objective and created a world-renowned miracle in the areas of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu. We have also gradually established, for the Republic of China, an important position impossible to ignore in the international community. Looking to the future, we are fully confident of building on our present well-established foundation to achieve even greater development. It is our belief that as long as our people remain committed to the ideal of democracy, enthusiastically carry forward reforms, and actively pursue progress, we will surely be able to seize every opportunity to create advantages and open doors to ever more brilliant prospects for our nation in the 21st century.
In closing, I wish the Republic of China everlasting prosperity and to each and every one of you, good health and happiness. Thank you