First lady Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍) made a triumphal visit to the US Capitol Wednesday to address members of Congress about Taiwan's democracy and US-Taiwan relations, receive a special award from the National Endowment for Democracy, and issue an invitation to her American counterpart, Laura Bush, to visit Taiwan.
Some two dozen members of the House and Senate attended the reception, in a highly ornate marble-walled room in the Russell Senate office building. They praised Wu's courage and accomplishments, expressed the hope that President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) will be able to visit Washington soon, and pledged America's unshakable support for Taiwan.
Among those who came to pay tribute to Wu was Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, the 99-year-old dean of the Congress who is soon to retire after nearly a half-century in office.
A half dozen members of Congress spoke in praise of Wu and Taiwan, led by the powerful House Majority Whip Tom Delay, one of Taiwan's biggest boosters in Congress.
"Few men and women have done more, and suffered more, to defend freedom than President Chen and the first lady," DeLay said. "Under their leadership, democracy has flourished on the island that we call Taiwan. The people of Taiwan have laid a lasting foundation for democratic institutions that will assure hope, freedom, opportunity and self-government for generations to come."
Representative Benjamin Gilman, who reiterated his often-stated assertion of Taiwan independence, presented Wu with a copy of a resolution unanimously approved by the House of Representatives Tuesday welcoming her to Washington.
Also spotted in the crowd was Paula Dobriansky, the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs. But the administration official left quickly, and did not meet with Wu, in contrast to Tuesday, when Under Secretary for International Security John Bolton held a private conversation with Wu at the American Enterprise Institute.
At the reception, Representative Christopher Cox presented Wu with the National Endowment for Democracy's (NED) Democracy Service Medal in honor of her "personal courage, her strength of character, and the inspiration she has provided to the people of the Republic of China [Taiwan]."
Cox noted that next March, Chen plans to set up a Taiwan Democracy Foundation that will parallel the NED's aims.
In her speech, Wu extended an invitation to Laura Bush to visit Taiwan "to witness Taiwan's progress in democratization." There was no immediate response from the White House.
She also held out an olive branch to all of Taiwan's political leaders, including those who oppose Chen.
"Many political scientists wonder why Taiwan was able to experience the democratic process more peacefully and smoothly than many other countries in the `third wave' of democratization," she said. "I think the main reason is that the current political leaders have the magnanimity to sow the seeds of love in the place of hatred."
"However," she said, "if you ask the Taiwan people whether they would like to go back to the old days when freedoms of speech and ideas were deprived of, I don't think you will get a single positive response."
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