Vice President Annette Lu on June 9 met with a group of 30-plus foreign guests participating in the "Asia-Pacific Island Nations Summit III" at the Office of the President. In the meeting, she extended to them a warm welcome and introduced to them her notion of "Soft Power."
The vice president told them that "soft power" epitomized Taiwan's development pattern, i.e., democracy, human rights, peace, love, high technology, cooperation, and sharing. As a result of Taiwan's 50-year-long struggle, soft power is also the shield that can be used against China's threats of forces.
The founding of the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU) last year embodies the idea of soft power, she said, adding that the DPU, along with its 28 member countries, is going to organize activities and conferences to foster experience-sharing in the Pacific region.
The guests included current and former congress members and government officials of Asian Pacific countries, including Takashi Aoyama of Japan, Huh Moon Doh of South Korea, and Mohamed Saleen of Maldives.