Vice President Annette Lu invited female government officials and elected representatives to a tea party on the afternoon of February 14, addressing urgent social issues and proposing to form a nationwide association for female political figures.
The vice president first cited Taiwan's competitive condition rated by the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Report. "Taiwan had advanced from the 10th place in 2000 to the fourth and fifth respectively in 2004 and 2005," the vice president said and generalized that "respects to human rights and enjoyment of freedom and happiness" were the common characteristics shared by those highly recognized countries. The vice president then added that, according to the UNESCO's evaluation, Taiwan women's participation in sociopolitical arenas was ranked 20th, economic capacity 15th in the world, and, most impressively, women's social status the first in Asia.
However, the vice president then pointed out three major issue areas the society is facing: demography, gender and marriage, in which a low birth rate, people's reluctance to have children, an ageing population, gender imbalance, prevalence of transnational marriages, delayed marriages and an increasing divorce rate are most concerned.
Therefore, the vice president hoped to initiate a nationwide association for female government officials and elected representatives and, together with her Democratic Pacific Union, to form a joint force to take proactive action. "The association will be consensus-oriented and transcend any political interests," the vice president asserted and concluded, "The impasses we encounter shall be solved by women's wisdom and strength."