Print

Mail

wiki links

President Lee welcomes Chen

President Lee Teng-hui and President-elect Chen Shui-bian, meeting for the first time after the president election, shake hands as their wives look on. PHOTO: COURTESY OF TAIPEI NEWS PHOTOGRAPHERS' ASSOCIATION

On Dec. 27, 1994, President Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) greeted newly elected Taipei mayor Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) at the Presidential Office. Yesterday, Lee welcomed President-elect Chen to the president's residence, with a similar smile and even more intimacy.

At the invitation of President Lee and First Lady Tseng Wen-hui (曾文惠), Chen and his wife, Wu Shu-chen (吳淑珍), visited the residence yesterday morning.

A one-and-half-hour closed door meeting between the two men focused on a wide range of issues from domestic affairs to international relations, highlighted by Lee's expectations of his successor, as well as Chen's respect for the retiring president.

"Under President Lee's rule, the country has actually made spectacular progress. He is not only `Mr Democracy,' as he has been dubbed by the international press, but I think he is the father of reform who has led the country toward democratization, localization and internationalization," Chen said afterwards, when he was back at his office.

"President Lee referred to quite a few issues which he thinks I should pay attention to and continue to work on. The meeting was too short for us to fully exchange our perspectives on all the issues. But I hope more meetings can be arranged in the future where Lee can give me more instructions based on his 12-year experience in ruling the country," Chen said.

Chen said Lee also offered his own perspectives on various issues including national defense, cross-strait and foreign relations, judicial reform, utilization of state land and the economy.

According to Chen, it was Lee's idea that cross-strait interactions should continue according to the principles of democracy and reciprocity.

"Self-determination is key to foreign policies," Chen quoted Lee as saying.

On national defense, Chen said Lee stressed the importance of the integration of administrative and command powers in the military.

Chen said he also expressed concern about Lee's retirement, suggesting Lee -- who he described as an "experienced" and "outstanding" statesman -- could continue making contributions to the nation after leaving office.

"Non-governmental diplomacy, NGO work, or volunteer work are areas where I believe President Lee could continue his contributions to the country," Chen said. "And the president's great contribution to the country over the past 12 years makes me feel it necessary to help in the establishment of a library dedicated to Lee."

Chen said Lee did not immediately accept his offer to act as a special envoy of peace and human rights. Instead, he said, the retiring president expressed the desire to devote himself to social problems after retirement, especially those of teenage prostitutes.

Taiwan politicians have often paid a great deal of attention to the interaction between Lee and Chen because of the closeness of their ideologies and political careers. Ideologically, it is said that Lee feels Chen is more able to carry on his struggle to assert Taiwan's sovereignty -- at least more than other middle-aged politicians.

Lee, who was mayor of Taipei between 1978 and 1981, gave Chen many suggestions on city affairs during the DPP politician's mayorship between 1994 to 1998.

During the 1998 Taipei mayoral election, as well as in the recent presidential campaign, there was widespread speculation that Lee, who was also KMT chairman at the time, had actually supported Chen despite his DPP affiliation.

Despite the high degree of public interest in Lee-Chen relations, Wu Yu-shan (吳玉山), a professor of politics at National Taiwan University, pointed out such speculation was more "gossip material" than fact, because it has never been confirmed with concrete evidence.
This story has been viewed 3649 times.