At the end of the rally, I moved forward towards the stage and caught Chen Chu's eye. Rather than give her the thumbs up, which had become a gesture for Candidate No. 1, I raised my hand, five fingers outstretched, and waved. (Chen was the No. 5 candidate.) With five outstretched fingers, she waved back.
Taiwanese finish a banquet with a warm sweet soup of round glutinous rice balls to indicate a well-rounded conclusion to the meal. Twenty-one years after Chen Chu had introduced me to many members of the opposition, the circle had finally been satisfactorily completed with two much older people waving to each other with five outstretched fingers.
The journey to complete the circle had involved much courage, much suffering and many losses. Even today I cannot think of Auntie Lim, Liang-chun and Ting-chun without tears coming to my eyes. But my own pain of being forcibly separated from my family in Australia for three months in 1980 and from the land and people of my "second home" for 12 years is little compared to the pain and suffering which DPP leaders underwent, ordeals well beyond the comprehension of most of us. Yet, they bear little bitterness and Shih Ming-teh, who is truly Taiwan's Mandela, still acts strongly and positively to promote reconciliation and brotherhood despite his 20 years of imprisonment, loss of family and loss of health.
This journey of courage and suffering has finally borne fruit. With the peaceful transfer of central government power to the opposition, Taiwan has solidified its democracy and entered a new stage with government of, by and for the people. This process has created strong emotions in many people over a very long time. That is why, when the victory of Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu became clear on the night of 18 March, the face of this objective scholar broke into huge smiles and why he embraced his friends.
Professor Bruce Jacobs (
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