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Lee cites Genghis Khan as role model

Former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) yesterday drew on the example of the great Mongol emperor Genghis Khan (成吉思汗) to outline a goal for Taiwan's national development.

Delivering a lecture to students of Lee Teng-hui School on the experiences of leadership, the former president said the Chinese TV drama Genghis Khan which depicts how the Mongol warlord rose from a tribal chieftain to become a great emperor, prompted him to realize that "although Taiwan is small, it could become the driving force to lead the world as long as it strives to do well."

Lee said that he started watching the TV series instead of the news because the post-election newscasts were full of "clamorous reports" in the wake of the March 20 presidential election.

He said two of the most important characteristics of leadership are whether leaders possess great visions and humanity -- that is, whether the leaders could pay attention to the feelings of the people.

"I watched Genghis Khan and saw how he emerged from a small tribal leader to unify Mongolia, expand the kingdom's realm into areas populated by Han people and annihilate the Chin Dynasty. He also went as far as Europe," Lee said.

"He had the ideas of Western culture and he knew how to lead and be humane," Lee said.

Lee then went on to criticized Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan (連戰) and People First Party (PFP) Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜), saying that neither man possessed these two qualities of a great leadership.

He said Lien and Soong were short-sighted because they only cared about winning the election and they had both failed to move forward.

He said the traditional Chinese concept of reincarnation has hindered the Chinese people from moving ahead because the people don't believe that death is the end of everything.

Lee noted that the March 20 election had laid a foundation for the development of a Taiwan-centered identity.

"Right now Taiwan-centered consciousness has the upper hand, but this doesn't mean that the goal of building Taiwan into a normal country is completed. We still need to reinforce this Taiwan-centered national identity," he said.

Lee recently announced that he will initiate a "Taiwan Awakening Movement" to press for changing the nation's official title from the Republic of China (ROC) to Taiwan, for creating a new constitution and to amend the Referendum Law (公民投票法).

On Friday, Lee urged the Taiwan Solidarity Union's (TSU) 12 candidates for the year-end legislative elections to insist on "localization" and knock out pan-blue candidates who have a vague national identity and oppose the government's policies for the sake of opposition.

Saying that the TSU could significantly expand its presence after the year-end elections, he said the TSU must strive to win the support of the right-wing pro-independence elements who might have switched their support to the TSU as the Democratic Progressive Party gradually shifted its stance to the middle-ground.

Lee meet with the 12 TSU candidates at his home.
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