The book, compiled by the Academia Historica, contains Lee's oral narration of his interactions with Chiang, as well as 156 written memos Lee took during each conversation he had with Chiang during his years as vice president. This relationship lasted from May 20, 1984, when Lee assumed the vice presidency, to Jan. 13, 1988 when Chiang passed away.
Lee said he only gave an account in the book of the time he worked under Chiang, and the purpose of the book was not only to satisfy the public's curiosity about Chiang, but also to let people understand Chiang's contributions to a new Taiwan.
He said the publication of the book was aimed at restoring history, but was not a judgment of Chiang's legacy, which should be left to the people.
"Although many Taiwanese have harshly criticized Chiang's legacy because of the White Terror era, I have to say I am a pupil of the Chiang Ching-kuo school. He was really nice to me and I learned a lot from him," Lee said.
Lee yesterday spoke of how Chiang had chosen him to take up important positions, from that of minister without portfolio and Taipei City mayor to Taiwan provincial governor at a time when very few Taiwanese had the opportunity to be close to the KMT's top leadership.
Recalling how Chiang had paid close attention to his training, Lee said "one month before I took up the office of Taipei City mayor, Chiang would come to my house three or four times a week to personally give me training and instructions. He even came to my house on the first day of my mayoral tenure. I came home from work seeing him sitting in my living room. I was shocked. Even my wife didn't know he was coming over. She was out grocery shopping."
"Chiang had given me much care. That's why I put on the final page of my notes that when Chiang died, a leader and mentor was lost," the former president said.
Regarding the realization about the necessity to do localization work after he took up the presidency, Lee said he didn't dare to disclose he had such ideas until he secured his leadership status in the KMT.
"I didn't show my true intentions at all when I was still vice president. I did very well to hold back my opinions. Not until my status as the president was fully assured in 1993 did I start to speak about the sorrow of the Taiwanese people to the Japanese author Riotaro Shiba (
The sorrow of the Taiwanese people Lee referred to was that the people of Taiwan had never been their own masters and had been ruled by foreign regimes for centuries. The remark has often been taken as Lee's endorsement of the goal of Taiwan independence.
The new book is the first published personal oral history account by a former president of Taiwan. Lee said he will continue to publish books to detail his 12 years as president, as well as about the forging of a Taiwanese identity.
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