Vice President Lien Chan this afternoon received an honorary degree of doctor of humane letters from the United States' Southern Illinois University.
The presentation ceremony, presided over by Jared Dorn, director of international affairs at Southern Illinois University, was held at the Office of the President.
In his speech, the Vice President said the degree is not a testament to him personally, but rather a confirmation of the hard work of the people of the ROC, from which sprang the world-acclaimed "Taiwan experience."
Vice President Lien has received honorary degrees from several universities, including the University of Wisconsin, River Falls, U.S.A; the University of Maryland, U.S.A.; Polytechnic University, New York, U.S.A.; Kiev University, Ukraine; Jordan University, Kingdom of Jordan; National Sun Yat-Sen University, ROC.
The full text of the Vice President's speech is as follows:
Director Dorn, Friends from Abroad, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
I would like first of all to express my sincere gratitude to Director Jared Dorn and members of the delegation from Southern Illinois University. They have come a long way to confer on me the honorary degree of doctor of humane letters. I would also like to thank everyone of you, especially the scholars and experts from the U.S. and Russia, for taking time from your busy schedules to be here this afternoon.
The delegation from Southern Illinois University and friends from the international academia are here at this time to attend the international conference on "ROC on the Threshold of the 21st Century: A Paradigm Reexamined," organized by the Sun Yat-sen Graduate Institute of Social Science and Humanities of National Chengchi University. The participants in this conference have fully exchanged views and provided valuable opinions on such issues as Taiwan's trans-century reforms, politics, public policy, economic development, diplomatic and military affairs, communications, democratic development, and relations with the Chinese mainland. In addition, some of you have witnessed the elections for the Taipei and Kaohsiung mayors, national legislators, and members of the Taipei and Kaohsiung City Councils held a month ago. As a result, I am sure that everyone of you must now have a fresh understanding of the "Taiwan experience."
At present, the ROC is still in the process of political democratization-a typical example of what the Western academia refers to as the "third-wave democratization." This experience will certainly have tremendous influence on the future of China. As President Lee Teng-hui has repeatedly proclaimed in public, the reunification of China depends on democratization. Over the past few years, Taiwan has completed many major reforms on its way toward democracy. In July 1987, the Emergency Decree was lifted, followed by the abolition of the ban on the formation of new political parties and on the licensing and publishing of new newspapers. In November 1987, the people of the ROC were officially allowed to visit relatives on the mainland. In April 1993, historic talks were held in Singapore between leaders of the intermediary organizations of the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. This pragmatic move has gradually alleviated the tension in the Taiwan Strait. Furthermore, the 1996 popular election of the ROC president and vice president, the first ever popular election of the head of state in China's 5000-year history, was concluded peacefully. The "quiet revolution," accomplished through peaceful means, has not only changed Taiwan's political environment, but also reshaped the democratic values and ideology of our people and society.
Last month's three-in-one elections were accomplished peacefully. These elections further demonstrate that ROC citizenry has grown increasingly mature for democracy, and that democratic values are now further consolidated here in Taiwan. Despite a few deficiencies in the process, I believe that, along with the development of our politics, economy, and education, our ideal of a full democracy will gradually be attained, making Taiwan an outstanding model of "third-wave democratization."
In economic development, the Republic of China will capitalize on the growing trend of regional economic cooperation and liberalization to carry out its goal, as announced on January 5, 1995, of becoming an "Asia-Pacific Regional Operations Center (APROC)" and of making Taiwan a base area for developing trade relations with other members of the Asia-Pacific region. In this regard, the ROC government hopes that Taiwan will become a center of various regional economic activities, including manufacturing, transshipment, finance, telecommunications, and media. Our program aims to raise the level of liberalization and internationalization of Taiwan's economy and enhance exchanges of people, commodities, capital, and information, in order to enable Taiwan to fully utilize its strategic economic position in the Asia-Pacific region and the Taiwan Strait. Furthermore, this plan will attract investments from multi-national businesses and encourage local enterprises to secure Taiwan as a center of investment and business for expanding markets into the Asia-Pacific region. Thus, Taiwan will play a key role in the economic alignment of the Asia-Pacific region and, at the same time, serve as an economic link between advanced and developing countries. The Asian financial crisis has swept the whole world; but Taiwan has been a stabilizing force in this crisis because we have consistently attempted to strengthen our economic fundamentals and competitiveness. In the final year before the new millennium and with the unanimous efforts of our citizens, it is hoped that we will make greater progress in political and economic developments in the future.
Representatives of the highly-esteemed Southern Illinois University have come from afar to confer the honorary degree of doctor of humane letters on me. Actually, this is not a testament to me personally, but rather a confirmation of the hard work of the people of the ROC, from which sprang the Taiwan experience. Wearing this mortar board, I intuitively feel that my responsibility has become even more exacting. I hope our distinguished guests from near and far, local and overseas, will continue to advise and encourage me. Once again, I would like to thank Southern Illinois University for conferring this honorary degree and for your participation in this ceremony. In closing, I wish all of you good health and happiness. Thank you.