President Ma Ying-jeou traveled on August 14, 2010 to Jin Guang Ming Temple in Sanxia Township of Taipei County to attend the closing ceremony of the 2010 International Youth Seminar on Life Education, an event held by the Buddha's Light International Association R.O.C. (BLIA Chunghwa Headquarters). In his address at the closing ceremony, the president urged the students in attendance to practice the Three Acts of Goodness espoused by Master Hsing Yun — "Do good deeds, say good words, and think good thoughts" — and show the world that Taiwan is a force for good.
The president stated that he has known Master Hsing Yun for over 20 years. When he was serving as Minister of Justice and seeking to promote prison reform, Master Hsing Yun's suggestion to hold short religious seminars for prison inmates made a particularly deep impression on him, because inmates participating in the seminars always paid serious attention to the words of the Buddhist masters who conducted the proceedings, and after leaving prison were more law-abiding than fellow inmates who did not attend such seminars. This experience brought home the point that even though he was the Minister of Justice in charge of 45 correctional institutions, no matter how many such institutions there were, their ability to change people's hearts and behavior for the better could not match religion's ability to harness the power of mind and education as a force for positive change.
President Ma pointed out that Buddhism, while originating in mainland China, has developed uniquely Taiwanese characteristics here in Taiwan, which he enumerated as follows: they are "actively engaged with society," are "efficient," have "adopted business management techniques," are "involved in volunteerism," and are "international in character." The president noted that the tenets of Buddhism generally stress the attainment of a life outside this world, but Buddhism in Taiwan is more engaged with the present life. Monks, nuns, and believers are actively involved in the life of the community through charity, medical, and educational work. Secondly, Taiwanese Buddhism, and especially BLIA, applies business management techniques to the running of public service activities. This makes for highly efficiency. The business management model comes from the volunteer movement that so many religious believers participate in. In addition, the monks and nuns of BLIA have spread Buddhism far and wide, with the result that BLIA temples are now to be found on five of the world's continents. The monks and nuns of Taiwanese Buddhism, including those active in BLIA, are talented, well educated, highly committed, enthusiastic, and friendly. Their contributions to Taiwan's social development, and role they have played in improving the moral fiber of our people, have been enormous.
The president opined that the "social engagement," "high efficiency," "corporate-style management," "volunteerism," and "international character" of Taiwanese Buddhism have spurred the willingness of people here to donate time, money, blood, and organs to society. Fully 8% of Taiwan's 23 million people, for example, donate blood, which is the highest percentage in the world. The president himself has donated blood 178 times. In addition, the people of Taiwan now sponsor some 230,000 poor children around the world, which places Taiwan among the world's leaders in this category. After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, our government and people were among the world's top ten donors of money and relief materials, and they donated US$1.5 billion after the big earthquake two years ago in mainland China's Sichuan Province. These charitable acts demonstrate the kindness and compassion of the people of Taiwan, and make the world more aware of Taiwan's power as a force for good.
After delivering his prepared remarks, President Ma fielded questions from the audience of students, who came from 38 different countries and represented 373 different universities, including Cambridge University and Peking University.
In response to a question about his views on whether students from mainland China should be allowed to study in Taiwan, the president stated that there are three main factors that had been considered in formulating this policy. Firstly, it would be conducive to permanent peace and prosperity in cross-strait relations. Six years ago, as mayor of Taipei, he called on the government to allow mainland students to study in Taiwan for precisely that reason, and further argued that if students from Taiwan and the mainland had a chance to get to know each other during their youth, it would greatly reduce the chance of war breaking out in the future. The president pointed to the example of Germany and France, which launched vigorous student exchange activities after World War II involving over one million persons. These activities did much to put an end to enmity dating back fully a century.
Secondly, the president expressed his hope to see healthy competition between students from Taiwan and mainland China, and said it is one of the best ways to expose students here to outside stimuli. And thirdly, he said that allowing students from the mainland to study in Taiwan would make Taiwan's campuses more international. Taiwan has more than 160 universities, and over 90% of high school graduates now go on to attend university. Taiwan's abundant higher education resources can be used to attract top-quality students from mainland China, and can also raise the university enrolment rate in countries throughout Southeast Asia. This would make Taiwan's university campuses more international, he said, and would also enable universities to make greater use of facilities that currently stand idle.