Anti-China, pro-Taiwan
Lu characterized her visit as very difficult, secret and lucky. Lu explained what she meant by lucky, was that one week before her visit, she learned that Indonesia had been working hard to win natural gas purchase orders from China, but China was being unclear on its real intentions, angering the Indonesian public and dramatically increasing the odds in favor of a visit from a Taiwan leader. More importantly, if this incident had occurred around the time of Lu's visit, Indonesia would inevitably have put the blame on Taiwan.
Lu also said she found out during the trip that many prominent Indonesians were fond of Taiwan, and that anti-communist forces in Indonesia were much larger than she had imagined.
When asked how she managed to accomplish her mission, Lu said the main reason was that she had gained the trust of Chen, who fully authorized her to maneuver on the front lines.
Since becoming vice president, Lu has traversed six continents and visited four countries with which Taiwan has no diplomatic ties. But her greatest sense of accomplishment this time comes not from her successful breakthrough in Indonesia and diplomatic victory against China, but from the fact that she had found the shared vibes through which she can have a dialogue with Chen, whom she now calls "the President" in every mention. Humility has allowed her confidence to thrive even more.
Translated by Jackie Lin, Francis Huang and Perry Svensson
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