The president raised the three major administrative goals of the country, namely, "insistence on constitutional reform," "insistence on fairness and justice," and "insistence on cross-strait reconciliation," to share with the audience.
The president's speech is as follows:
I am very happy today to take part in the joint inauguration ceremony of the Fifth National Development Research Program and the Feminist Leadership Development Program. First, I would like to express my most sincere welcome and gratitude to the researchers who are present today. You are all the elites from academic units, civilian companies, governmental departments and non-governmental organizations. Your contributions and professionalism are really admirable.
From now on, you are the researchers of the Fifth National Development Research Program and the Feminist Leadership Development Program. In the following six weeks of research, you will be learning about the country's development and its national policies as well as issues such as leadership and management. The most important of all would be to use the experience and wisdom that you have acquired to put them into recommendations to the government. I believe that your participation and contribution will be a new momentum to uplift Taiwan's advancement and quicken its step into the world. Therefore, I feel honored to take part in this ceremony every year to encourage you.
"Equality between male and female, governance by the two sexes" is my political belief. Since I became the mayor, I started to appoint large number of women as the heads of administrative agencies, and the Taipei City Government became the number one government office with the highest rate of female administrators. Besides that, I took the initiative to invite Ms. Annette Lu to be my running mate in the two presidential elections so that there is a first female vice president in Taiwan, and the new government also kept its female administrator rate at one fourth of the members in the Cabinet.
In addition, there was a first female police chief, a first female major general since 1946 and a first female national assembly speaker during my tenure of the office of president. This shows the government's determination to equalize the ratio of male and female workers both in the central and local government agencies, hoping that the concept of "governance by the two sexes" could be realized in an early date. I also expect that you, the researchers of the Fifth Feminist Leadership Development Program, could use your influence to help realize the equality of the two sexes.
I would also like to encourage the audience with three issues which are "insistence on constitutional reform," "insistence on fairness and justice," and "insistence on cross-strait reconciliation."
The first and also the last ad hoc National Assembly has already approved by a overwhelming margin a draft constitutional reform bill passed by the Legislative Yuan last August 23, putting a good ending to the first phase constitutional reform.
I hope that the second phase constitutional reform would be able to fully protect the interests and rights of female workers and decide on issues such as whether the central government should adopt an administration with three official branches or a five-power constitution, or either adopt a presidential system or a cabinet system.
I believe that Taiwan must keep on creating its national competitiveness. Insisting on reform is to correct the negative phenomena in politics, judicial systems, education, financial affairs, media and society. There would be no fear if we believe in ourselves and there would be strength if we believe; we will not give up because we insist, and because we insist, we realize our ideals. The efforts we are making now will benefit our next generation and let them live in a new Taiwan of justice with an environment of social justice, economic justice, judicial justice, sex justice and international justice. While we are struggling for our economy, fighting for our country's competitiveness, we at the same time should take care of social fairness and justice as well as protect the disadvantaged.
The most sought-after thing of the people in Taiwan is the ending of polarization between the pan blue and the pan green camps and the cease of antagonism between them. I have a very profound understanding of this craving from the people, as each of the ruling party and opposition parties has its own important role to play. They should compete in fairness, cooperate rather than split, supervise rather than obstruct, unite rather than contradict in their activities. Taiwan does not need debilitation in polarized confrontations, but progress in democracy and justice. I believe that if leaders of political parties could take this historical step, it would not be difficult to find a compromise.
It is the same in cross-strait relations. Although a solution is difficult to find at this moment on political disputes, both sides could still hold talks on economic issues such as direct chartered cargo flights, allowing Chinese tourists to come to Taiwan, agricultural and fishery cooperation, and so on. Through government to government negotiations, expanded exchanges, accumulation of mutual trust, a path for political reconciliation might be found. Only in such a way could the cross-strait relation improve.
In the past decade, exchanges between the people on both sides of the strait have become more intense, which is very meaningful and of very much value to the development of cross-strait relations. In the future, we hope that we could keep on promoting dialogue and communication with the other side and build up a mutual trust mechanism. However, principles such as securing Taiwan's sovereignty, insisting on Taiwan's identity in dialogue and reconciliation and adopting a pragmatic policy will not change.
In conclusion, I would like to express once again my gratitude for your participation in this event. I hope that you could give your ideas and suggestions enthusiastically for the benefit of the country. I wish you success and luck.