President Tsai interviewed by Worldwide Association of Women Journalists and Writers
Video of President Tsai Ing-wen's interview with Worldwide Association of Women Journalists and Writers (AMMPE) former President Julia Eugenia Martinez, now head of the AMMPE Chile branch, was broadcast during a reception at the organization's annual meeting on November 7 in London (early morning on November 8 Taipei time). President Tsai responded to questions about issues including women's participation in public affairs, and her personal life and career.
A transcript of the interview follows:
Q: In any country it's very difficult to be the first woman president. It has been difficult for you?
A: Well, yes, it has been quite a long way for me, but here I am, the president of the country.
Q: Do you think that family and education influence everyone's life? I understand that your father didn't want you to go to university or follow a career. How was that for you?
A: Both my parents are very caring people. They just wanted to provide a warm environment for their children to grow up in. They didn't have high expectations for their children. They didn't want to see, or expect them to be, someone who is "great". They just wanted to give them a good life, an enjoyable life, and know what they want to do. So essentially, they are very loving parents, and gave us a lot of space to be who we are. Therefore I got to make decisions as to what sort of life I wanted to have and where I wanted to be educated.
Q: And you chose to do law?
A: This was the only exception where my father intervened, considering what to study at university. He said, and actually he spent some time with me, that he thought that law is a good subject for women to study.
Q: Why?
A: For a lawyer or someone who is familiar with legal matters, he thought that would give this person the ability to protect himself or herself and others as well.
Q: And you went abroad, to Cornell University, and then to the London School of Economics in London to do your PhD. So in some way, you were preparing yourself to be an academic.
A: Yes, my father had this idea that being a professor or a teacher is the right profession or, using the British term, the "proper" profession. Therefore what I had in mind back then was that perhaps after spending a few years of time studying, I may become a professor. I was educated at National Taiwan University, the law department, and then I went to Cornell Law School. Both the National Taiwan University law department and Cornell Law School made me a lawyer. After that I went to London School of Economics, where I studied law and economics, and that made me more of a social scientist. So my education is a combination of Taiwanese, American, and British education systems. In terms of the subjects of study, I studied law, social science, economics and other social sciences. I thought this was a rather complete education for a young woman who wanted to be useful to society at some stage.
Q: And when was the moment when this young woman decided to jump into politics and run for the presidency?
A: When I first graduated, I thought perhaps I wanted to be a professor at university. Then I had the opportunity to participate in our trade negotiation team. Given my background as a lawyer and a social scientist, I was, in my view, quite useful to the trade negotiation team. So I spent more than 10 years with our trade negotiation team and that made me a practitioner as well. So with this academic background and this trade negotiation experience, I thought all of this made me rather well qualified as a decision-maker, especially as a policy-maker. So with this, I was offered a job in 2000 to be a minister, the minister responsible for managing our relationship with China, which is a job that is highly political and high profile as well. I thought this experience, educational background and professional training, all of this, would contribute to my later career. But being a minister is very different from being a president.
Q: And you tried twice to be the president, and you failed the first time, and you had the courage to do it again.
A: Well, I have to tell you a story before I talk about my presidency. In 2008, the party I belong to, that is the DPP (Democratic Progressive Party), was actually defeated in a major way in the presidential election. People and members of the party, were frustrated and the party was heavily in debt. No senior member of the party wanted to be the leader of the party. So I was asked by the younger members of the party to run for this chairpersonship. Now, this is a very significant step in Taiwan's political development because traditionally women were not associated with the idea of political leadership. I thought I was brave enough to take up the challenge and ran for it.
Q: You are a very strong person—a very pragmatic woman, I think? You always dress exactly the same—that caught my attention, also.
A: Yes, I want to keep this consistency, and not much change, so people will pay attention to more important issues.
Q: I would like you to tell me what are the advantages of being a woman in public office? Are there some advantages, or only disadvantages?
A: Of course there are disadvantages, especially when we are talking about traditional perceptions of roles for women. Women traditionally are associated with jobs like caretakers and to some extent teachers, nurses, etc. It's all about caring for people, and in a supportive role. But today is a very different situation. Over the last century, the role of women has evolved from caretaker to today, where we have seen so many women running different governments. So I think women have gone a long way. But in the process women have demonstrated their particular ability to be caring, because of their traditional role as caretakers.
Q: I very much would like you to advise the people and women that will see this interview, how do you recommend them to follow their own ideas, to follow their paths, and do something for themselves and for their country. What will be your advice in that sense?
A: First of all women have to escape from this traditional perception of what women should do or should not do. Women can do anything they are capable of and want to do. For every woman, especially young women, I will say do the things that you think you can achieve and that you want to achieve.
Q: Do you think there is a key to open the door, to make the world less separate from women and men, and more equality? Which will be the idea you put forward for that to happen?
A: I think you have seen so much legislation protecting gender equality. I think that is important. But the most important thing is the women's self-awareness that they can do anything and everything just like men.
Q: When did you have that awareness in your life, that you were convinced "I can do this"? When was that?
A: I don't know if I am representative of all the women, but since my young age I always thought that I can achieve things that my brothers can achieve as well. In terms of study, I was doing okay. In terms of career development, I started as a professor and I graduated from a pretty decent academic institution and then started my career as a professor. In those jobs, I thought I was doing these jobs well and that built my confidence that I can do more.
Q: Are you also fighting for gender equality in the future, in Taiwan or in the world?
A: Yes, I would definitely fight for that. But in politics here today, I think Taiwan's society has [already] done a wonderful thing that is to meet the challenge, which is a test to Taiwanese society, of whether they can accept a woman leader as president and as commander in chief in the military. So I think Taiwan is wonderful, and people here are wonderful to break that glass ceiling and meet the test in 2016 to elect a woman president, a woman leader. What I want to do, I want to tell people outside of Taiwan that Taiwan is a wonderful place and it was brave enough to break the glass ceiling. I hope that for the rest of the world, there are so many women politicians who want to achieve more, and I hope that Taiwan can give them some inspiration.
Q: Thank you for the time you have given us, and for your experience you have told us about. We hope this conversation will encourage many other women around the world to keep going and to achieve what they think is important for them and for their countries. And so what will be your last words for them?
A: I would tell women that there is no limitation. We should not accept anything as fate and we just have to do what we want to do and achieve what we can achieve.
The AMMPE was founded in 1969 by a group of women from Latin America. The organization currently has 37 member states, and is an important NGO, both internationally and for the United Nations. Members include well-known women journalists and writers from CNN, the BBC, Al-Jazeera Television, and PEN International. Taiwan became a formal association member in 1986, and is one of its most active members, hosting the AMMPE biannual Congress in 1996, 2006, and 2012.
To promote women's rights, the AMMPE interviews women heads of state to increase women's willingness to participate in public affairs. In February 2018, former AMMPE President Julia Eugenia Martinez from Chile came to Taiwan to interview President Tsai. Current AMMPE President Sarah Gibson, former President Martinez, AMMPE Taiwan National Chapter head Shi Jing-wen (石靜文), ROC Representative to the United Kingdom David Y.L. Lin (林永樂), and City, University of London President Sir Paul Curran were all on hand for the event.