Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday said that although the Taiwanese people have experienced a transfer of power, they haven't yet reached a consensus on the "recognition of Taiwan," which he said was the dying wish of late president Chiang Ching-kuo (蔣經國).
"The slogan of `New Taiwanese,' which I advocated during my tenure as president, actually follows the thinking of president Chiang," Lee said yesterday while holding court with another political heavyweight, Peng Ming-min (
"The late president, during the last few years of his life, fully recognized the fact that it was no longer possible to counterattack and retrieve the mainland from the Chinese communists.
"I felt that he really meant it when he said `I am a Taiwanese,' which meant that he totally identified himself with this land, language and culture," Lee said.
"Therefore, I adhere to Chiang's spirit, which I do not believe most of the people who surrounded the late president understood."
Lee added that he kept a journal of his conversations with Chiang, which, if published, would help clarify recent criticism of him.
Lee was invited by a publishing company to have an open dialogue with Peng, currently a senior advisor to the president, entitled, "A Centennial Conversation Between Two Political Prophets: Their Lives Experienced in Two Nations."
The two nations referred to were China and Japan.
Lee, originally from Taipei County, and Peng, from Taichung County, were both born in 1923 when Taiwan was under Japanese colonial rule. Having pursued their studies in Tokyo before the end of World War II, both Lee and Peng said that Japan's war defeat brought a yearning to return home and serve their country.
However, after they returned, what they found was not what they had expected.
"After a 50-year separation, the people of Taiwan had different personalities, mentalities and values from the people of China. This is a historic reality that we have to acknowledge," Peng said.
A clash between local Taiwanese and the newly arrived KMT government led to the 228 massacre in 1947.
Peng said that the brutal incident aroused within him an abhorrence for the undemocratic, high-handed KMT regime. As a political scientist, Peng chose to make public a written statement, urging people to openly challenge the KMT.
Frightened by the KMT's White Terror practices, Lee said that he chose not to defy the regime and shifted his desire for political reform to the need for agricultural reform.
"I dined with Peng the day before he released his statement," Lee said. "And unlike Peng, who was likely to be arrested at any time, I admit now that I chose to keep quiet. But my ideals on human rights, democracy and social justice have remained the same."
Lee said that destiny had brought him to the KMT's ruling core and, ironically, offered him a chance to be able to initiate reform from within the political system.
Though he chose a different path and ended up in prison for his ideals, Peng, nevertheless, looked back over his past and said that he felt he was luckier than Lee.
"I could never put up with all the political infighting that Lee had to go through."
Peng added humorously, "Look at his gray hair. He must have been less happy than I since I didn't have to worry about earning a living during my days in prison." Peng's remarks attracted loud applause from thousands in the audience.
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