President Neyts-Uytteboreck, Distinguished Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is a great pleasure for me to host this luncheon in honor of the political party leaders gathered in the beautiful city of Budapest to attend the 51st Congress of Liberal International. Although we come from many different countries, LI is a big family for the political parties each of us represents. My colleagues of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party of Taiwan and myself very much cherish this family reunion.
I would like to use this occasion to talk about the role of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan's democratization over the past decades.
Before 1987, Taiwan had been under martial law for 38 years, and the basic rights of people were strictly curtailed. Among others, the Kuomintang government banned the formation of political parties to maintain its dominance as the ruling party. But the opposition movement strongly advocated for democracy and an end to authoritarian rule. In 1979, the "Kaohsiung Incident" resulted in the arrest of all the opposition leaders after a mass demonstration turned violent, with hundreds injured. Despite the fact that virtually the entire leadership of Taiwan’s democracy movement was imprisoned, the arrests and trials in effect consolidated the opposition's demands for changes in the government and focused world attention on the political situation in Taiwan. The opposition people formed the DPP in 1986, but it was only officially recognized three years later when, the martial law and the ban to form parties was finally lifted.
As the only genuine opposition party, we immediately pushed for "complete reelection of the Legislature" and "direct presidential election" to make Taiwan a democracy and return political power back to the people. Our efforts paid off. In 1992, new elections were held for the first time and the DPP garnered 50 or one-third of the legislative seats.
In the presidential elections of the year 2000, we rewrote history again. Mr. Chen Shui-bian beat the Kuomintang candidate and assumed the presidency of Taiwan, marking this country's first alternation of political parties in power. Because of these achievements, Liberal International awarded the 2001 Prize of Freedom to President Chen,and recognized the DPP as a leader in the promotion of democracy in Taiwan. President Chen Shui-bian was born to a tenant farming family, but the Chen family's poverty did not diminish his aspirations for a better future. The young Chen always stayed at the top of his class from primary school to university. After his graduation from the Law School of the National Taiwan University, Mr. Chen has had an impressive and outstanding career, as a lawyer, Taipei city councilman, legislator, mayor of Taipei, and eventually head of state. To topple the KMT regime was not an easy task, because it governed Taiwan for so long and monopolized virtually all the national resources. However, people elected Mr. Chen to be president and me vice president.
I am the first woman elected to such a position in the 5,000 years of Chinese civilization. Moreover, I was one of the eight "seditious elements" charged by the autocratic KMT regime 23 years ago in the martial law trial of the "Kaohsiung Incident," while Chen Shui-bian was one of defense lawyers. No one could have imagined that 20 years later, one of the lawyers would fight shoulder to shoulder with one of the defendants to win the presidential election, and thus complete a peaceful transition of power in Taiwan. What a dramatic story!
I was born on D-Day when the Allied troops landed in Normandy during World War II, and was the youngest child and third girl in a poor family. On two occasions, I was almost given away to other families to be raised, a common practice given the rampant poverty at the time in Taiwan. Gradually my parents changed their attitude and decided to educate me as they educated my brother, who has becomes a successful lawyer. So I went to law schools and received three law degrees, including from Harvard University.
In 1978, perceiving that the United States would soon sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan, I gave up my scholarship at Harvard and returned to Taiwan to warn our people about the forthcoming diplomatic change. This kind of news was blocked under martial law because of the KMT's fear that they might undermine morale. Freedom of the press and expression were then severely restricted; only during election campaigns could people enjoy a short period of freedom of speech. So I took advantage of the campaign platform to warn the audience that the United States would de-recognize our country and thus bring turmoil to Taiwan. I could have won that election overwhelmingly, but the KMT cancelled it right after President Jimmy Carter announced that the US would officially sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which was made only a week before the scheduled voting day. Afterwards, ironically on the International Human Rights Day of December 10, 1979, I delivered a 20-minute speech criticizing the government during the International Human Rights Day rally that later became known as the "Kaohsiung Incident." In return, I was tried by a military court along with seven other co-defendants, found guilty of violent sedition based on fabricated stories and confessions made out of coercion and harassment, and sentenced to 12 years in prison.
It took me 13 years before I was able to run for office again. In 1992, I was elected to the Legislature, and in 1997, as Chief of the county government of Taoyuan, my birthplace. After I took office, I devoted myself to wiping up corruption as well as launching political and environmental reforms. In my three years as County Chief, I significantly changed the status of what was before a dirty, corrupted and miserable county with a population of almost two million – it is now becoming a global logistic center with remarkable infrastructure development to support hi-tech industries.
Six years prior to my involvement with the opposition movement, I had already help launch the feminist movement in Taiwan. At the age of 27, I began to advocate equal rights for men and women. Today, "equal rights for all" is a matter of course to all of us. But at that time, my views were considered traitorous in Taiwanese conservative society. What I have gone through over the past years is beyond imagination. Intimidation and harassment were daily occurrences for me. However, the more suppressed, the more I was determined to fight. After 30 years of struggle, women in Taiwan today have reached considerable equality with men not only in school but also in society and in the family. In particular President Chen appointed women for a quarter of cabinet posts; and in the most recent Legislative election, 50 women got elected, occupying 23 percent of the total seats. One has reason to expect a new era of bi-gender politics to come.
Now I would like to bring your attention to the future perspective for Taiwan and the world. As you know, Taiwan is a small island with very limited natural resources. But our per capita GNP has increased from less than US$150 in 1949 to US$ 14,188 in 2000. Taiwan is the seventh largest trading nation and our foreign exchange reserves rank third in the world. Taiwan is also a leading nation to produce IC industries. These achievements did not simply fall from the sky. In addition to our hardworking people, Taiwan has well-planned economic policies, a sound education system, a free market, and a very vibrant small and medium enterprises sector. The SMEs, representing close to 70% of our businesses, are indeed the backbone of Taiwan's economy.
Taiwan, drawing on its national development experience and accomplishments, is able and willing to do her share to help promote international peace and economic development. At the same time, we are contributing to the welfare of all mankind through active engagement in international humanitarian efforts to eliminate poverty and diseases around the world. But our good intentions have often been denied. On many occasions, Taiwan had pledged donations. However, our offers were rejected simply because Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations. This reason is absurd indeed. Such obstruction denies Taiwan a chance to contribute to the world, and the only direct victims of this are the potential aid recipients. We want to give, not to take, and we do so because we were also on the receiving end of international assistance before.
As you may be aware of, my country has been applying for observer status in the WHO for several years in order to participate in the global health improvement network. This year, my government is making this issue a special priority. We really appreciate that just a few days ago, the European Parliament Assembly passed a resolution in support of Taiwan’s observer status at the World Health Assembly (WHA). It is a great stride toward our goal of membership in the WHO. I sincerely hope that you, our international friends and LI members, will urge your government to support Taiwan's WHO bid.
You may all know that since January of this year, Taiwan has become the 144th member of the World Trade Organization. Under this mechanism, Taiwan and other WTO members, including the People's Republic of China, are equal partners and can work together according to international norms. This will ensure not only free flow of goods but also free flow of human resources. Why don’t we let this WTO model be applied to other international organizations and activities to benefit all nations and peoples?
Taiwan is small in size, but it has vigor and vitality. For the past fifty years, our people have created the world-acclaimed Taiwan miracle. This miracle refers not only to economic achievements, but also to our strength in democracy, freedom, human rights, love, and high-technology. I call these Taiwan's "soft powers", as I mentioned this morning. And I believe soft powers are more powerful than military or political power and can make greater contributions to achieve peace and prosperity around the globe.
As for bilateral relations between Taiwan and other countries, regrettably, most nations do not recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state. The reason, of course, has to do with the PRC, which is attempting to mislead the world into believing that Taiwan is a part of the PRC. The fact is that Taiwan was ceded to Japan by China in 1895 and that Japan agreed to surrender its sovereignty and let Taiwan alone at the 1951 San Francisco Peace Convention. It is a fact that since the PRC was founded, it has never had jurisdiction over Taiwan even for a single day!
The United States broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan on Jan. 1, 1979. In order to make up for the damage it caused, the U.S. Congress passed the Taiwan Relations Act that authorizes the U.S. government to continue commercial, cultural, defense and other relations with Taiwan. The act was signed by the then President Jimmy Carter and took effect on April 10, 1979. Thanks to this institutionalized mechanism, our two countries' substantive bilateral relations could be maintained and our national security defended following the termination of Taiwan-US governmental relations. What I am trying to say is that, despite the lack of official ties with most of your governments, Taiwan wishes to enhance substantive relations with your countries. And I hope that you, friends of LI, will exert your influence and urge your government to adopt the TRA model and institutionalize your policies and measures concerning Taiwan. Such a framework will help solidify our substantive bilateral cooperation and interchanges. In bringing forth this suggestion, I sincerely hope that your government will give equal and parallel treatment to Taipei and Beijing. This, I believe, will prove mutually beneficial.
Dear friends of the LI family: As I announced this morning, my party, the DPP, is applying for full LI membership. The DPP looks forward to even closer relations with Liberal International and all its members. Through the ruling DPP party, Taiwan has been doing her best to translate the core values of the LI into political practice, even before the DPP joined the LI family. Once the DPP enters into the LI family, we wish to share with LI family members our experiences in enhancing freedom, democracy and human rights. Together we can make our ideals into a reality. In working hand-in-hand to make our ideals come true, you will find that the DPP is a worthy partner who is always able and willing to participate and share.
Dear friends: To see is to believe. On behalf of my people, I would like to welcome all of you to visit Taiwan. It is also my earnest hope that Taiwan will be able to host a Liberal International Congress in Taiwan in the near future so that you may discover a splendid land in Asia, our liberal values have become common practice.
Please excuse me for keeping you hungry. Hungary is such a great and beautiful country that no one should get hungry.
In closing, ladies and gentlemen, may I propose a toast to wish great success to the 51st LI Congress and wish continued progress to the countries each of us represent.
Thank you.