'Ensure That Our Democracy Improves'

Former Taiwan Vice President Annette Lu discusses the state of politics in Taiwan.

2012.02.22
annettelu-305.jpg Former Vice President Annette Lu speaks about the Taiwanese presidential election, Feb. 21, 2012.
RFA

Former Taiwan Vice President and one-time prisoner of conscience Annette Lu expresses her fears about a chilling effect on political debate of closer ties with mainland China, saying the next four years under the leadership of President Ma Ying-jeou will be crucial for Taiwan's future. Lu, who has called for the recognition of Taiwan as a sovereign entity separate from China, made the comments in a recent review of her opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s performance in the 2012 presidential campaign. DPP candidate Tsai Ing-wen lost the election to Ma, who campaigned on a platform of ever closer cross-Straits ties. Beijing still insists that the island, held by the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) since 1945, forms part of the People's Republic of China:

When we have seen a movie or read a novel, as the audience, we have an opinion ... It is in that spirit that I am giving my review of the 2012 presidential elections. There is something very important which I will talk about first. We are now in the process of selecting a chairman for the [Democratic Progressive] Party ... I predict that the people who stand in this election will be afraid to speak out. They won't dare to say what is really on their minds ... I have spent such a long time observing things that I decided that I would be the one to speak the truth.

Fate in Ma's hands

Since President Ma Ying-jeou succeeded in getting re-elected, Taiwan's fate will continue to be in his hands. And China will play a decisive role in the future of Taiwan, with its population of 23 million people. Chinese president Hu Jintao said a few years ago that he was actually engaged in the use of soft tactics of a particularly creative kind to effect reunification between Taiwan and the mainland. I remember this warning from a long while back. Not only has President Ma Ying-jeou been re-elected, but he has done so with the recognition from President Hu that he bears a historic responsibility which he must fulfill. This is a crucial time for deciding Taiwan's fate ... I don't believe that U.S. support for Taiwan has anything to do with our merits; it is more a question of Taiwan's strategic value and the sort of benefits it entails for U.S. national interests.

Dalai Lama meeting

When I met with the Dalai Lama in India [in January 2012] he told me that he used to be a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), and that he had gone to Beijing to attend its annual meeting. He said there were several thousand people there, and they held a meeting that lasted all day. People would get up and talk, and everyone else would fall asleep. He told me that [then vice-president and widow of Sun Yat-sen] Song Qingling—this is adorable, she was sitting right next to him—would wake them up again when they fell asleep. He said that after he went to India, they would spend all day arguing in the parliament, and even fist-fighting, so he realized that they were in fact representing the people, and that democracy means lots of different points of view. So he said that he was very hopeful that Taiwan would democratize China. As a democratic country ... as democrats, we have a responsibility to ensure that our democracy improves and matures, particularly within our party, within the DPP.

Reported by Li Tong for RFA's Mandarin service.Translated by Luisetta Mudie.

POST A COMMENT

Add your comment by filling out the form below in plain text. Comments are approved by a moderator and can be edited in accordance with RFAs Terms of Use. Comments will not appear in real time. RFA is not responsible for the content of the postings. Please, be respectful of others' point of view and stick to the facts.