On April 7, Vice President Annette Lu talked about Taiwan's technology diplomacy and the relationship between technology and human rights in a speech delivered to university students.
The vice president first pointed out to the audience the projects of e-Pacific and Alliance for Pacific Universities under her Democratic Pacific Union. The vice president further shared with the audience her discourse of "New Cross-ocean Relations," which involves the two sides of the Pacific Ocean, i.e., Taiwan and Central American countries. Based on her "New Cross-ocean Relations," Taiwan has assisted its allies like El Salvador, Panama and Guatemala in developing their industries and technologies, said the vice president.
Citing a World Economic Forum's report that ranked Taiwan's technology third in the world, the vice president also urged the young students to reflect on the philosophy of carpe diem, study hard, and work to transform the proverbial MIT (Made in Taiwan) to the new and positive IIT (Innovated in Taiwan).
However, while reminding the audience of the danger resulting from unlimited development of science and technology, the vice president stressed the importance of truth, good, and beauty, and argued that science development should be based on the respect to the heaven, the earth, and the people in order to avoid over-exploitation of nature.
The National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, the venue for the 2006 National College Games, invited Vice President Lu to give the speech.