Good Afternoon. On behalf of the people and the government of Taiwan, we welcome our fellow democracy activists from 25 countries to the Community of Democracies' Taipei Roundtable on Democracy in Asia.
In the century of accelerated globalization, a joined effort is ever more important to spreading democracy, and the Community of Democracies plays a vital role, especially in Asia. As the largest continent in the world, Asia is home to the most populous democracy as well as the most populous authoritarian regime. It is home to some of the most vibrant democracies as well as four out of the five remaining Communist countries. Asia is thus the front line in the ideological battle for the hearts and minds of the people.
In the last 30 years, countries in Asia have made some great strides toward democratization. According to the 2007 Freedom House report, the number of free countries in Asia has increased from 2 to 6, including new democracies like India, Indonesia, South Korea and Taiwan, while those that are only "partially free" decreased from 11 to 8. Despite the significant gain for democracy and freedom however, the number of Asian countries that are "not free" remained at 10. In recent years, our region has also seen some setbacks, most notably the military coup in Thailand. More troubling is the increasing effort and sophistication of authoritarian regimes like China, Burma and North Korea in their repression of political activists. This is not just a local phenomenon, but a global trend of "freedom stagnation"--a term used by the same Freedom House report to describe the fact that the number of free countries in the world has not increased since 1998.
One reason for this stagnation is the result of collective efforts to push back democratic reforms. As the idea of freedom and democracy spread through the world, authoritarian regimes are also cooperating to push back the tide. For example, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (comprised of China, Russia and several Central Asian countries) has specifically attacked democratic assistance by insisting the right for its members to choose their "own path of development." Such an assertion of "sovereignty" as an excuse for continued oppression is nothing new. Some regimes have asserted the importance of national security in their repression of dissidents, and many have argued that democracy is culturally or religiously incompatible with Asia.
The best way to refute these arguments is to share the success stories of democratization in Asia. For example, India's democratization and economic success show that there is no need to compromise between prosperity and democracy. Indonesia's success story shows that even the largest Muslim country in the world can embrace universal values of freedom and human rights. Democratization in Taiwan and South Korea not only shows that democracy can strive in traditionally Confucian states, but that democratization is possible in the face of hostilities and military threats. In fact the vibrant democracy in these two countries is the best weapon against military expansion and political isolation.
Similar to South Korea, Taiwan's journey to democracy is a long one. In the early 20th Century, Taiwanese pushed for greater political freedom under Japanese colonial rule. That movement was interrupted by World War II, and then by the repressive rule of the KMT government, imposing 38 years of martial law. Despite these hardships, more than ten thousand Taiwanese activists have fought for the freedom that we enjoy today.
In my own four decades of struggle, I have always taken the role of a pioneer. I was the founder of Taiwan's feminism movement in the early 1970s, when Taiwan was still under martial law. As a feminist, I realize that the fight for gender equality must accompany the fight for political rights. A democracy is not a democracy if half of its population does not enjoy the same rights and freedom as the other half. Similarly, a feminism movement cannot adequately protect and empower women without the equal protection of the law and the guarantee of fair political participation. I called this approach "feminism on the left hand and democracy on the right hand." As the first open and public social movement in Taiwan, the feminism movement became the spearhead of the various social and political movements that led to Taiwan's democratization. It is after advocating for women's rights that I joined the opposition movement to push for political reforms, a decision that landed me in jail.
I also learned that it is not enough to just be a force of opposition; rather, we have to become a force for reform. Believing that a clean and fair electoral process is the foundation of a true democracy, I launched a clean election campaign to get rid of rampant vote-buying practice and corruption in our election. Later, I also joined the effort to reform Taiwan's constitution. The current Republic of China Constitution was designed in and for China in 1946, and many of the government structure does not fit Taiwan. To reform and to revise the constitution is a necessary step to build a sound foundation for the rule of law and for effective governance.
I also actively engaged the international community, not just for greater recognition of Taiwan abroad, but also to bring the international democratic community as a force of reform within Taiwan. Having been on the list of Amnesty International's prisoners of conscience, I worked to bring Amnesty International and an active human rights agenda to Taiwan after my release from six years of imprisonment. Combining domestic calls for reform with the engagement of the international community, Taiwan's democratization accelerated, resulting in the first popular presidential election in 1996 and the peaceful transfer of government in 2000.
My most significant step is to launch the Democratic Pacific Union in 2005. The DPU is an international organization of 28 democratic countries around the Pacific region with the goal of promoting democracy, peace and prosperity in the region. To further enhance the global effort for democracy, DPU established the Pacific Congressional Caucus, with the participation and support of parliamentary members from DPU member countries to serve as a platform for democratic consolidation and better governance.
Taiwan's path to democracy started with the call for gender equality and political liberation, followed by institutional reforms of our electoral process and constitution. Taiwan's democracy is maturing, transforming itself from a recipient of international efforts to an initiator of such efforts through the DPU. This experience shows that democracy cannot be built overnight; it must grow from within the country. Strengthening of civil society and increasing international engagements is thus the key to breaking down these last barriers of reform in the "Not Free" countries and the ingredient to transform those that are "Partially Free" to "Free" countries.
This is why we must work together. Not just to exchange war-stories or to pat each other on the back. Rather, we must empower civil society and support social movements in repressed countries because they are indispensable catalysts for democracy in these countries.
A symbol of Taiwan's democratization movement is the white lilies. Just like a flower, democracy needs good soil and water to blossom. A strong civil society is the good soil from which a healthy democracy may grow, and the support of democratic community is the water that nourishes the seeds of freedom inside each of the repressed countries. Let us work together so that the flowers of democracy may bloom throughout Asia; let us work together so that all people throughout the world may harvest and enjoy the fruits of democracy.
Thank you.