Academia Sinica President Lee Yuan-tseh (李遠哲) announced his resignation and acceptance of DPP presidential candidate Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) offer to head his National Policy Advisory Committee (國政顧問團) yesterday, as part of his efforts to "contribute to the realization of Taiwanese dreams."
Lee also promised to help Chen with the easing of cross-strait tensions if the DPP candidate is elected, saying it is an issue fundamental to improving ethnic relations in Taiwan.
In an evening press conference called at short notice, Lee read a statement entitled "Making efforts for our common dreams" to reporters and friends who were present to show their support for his decision.
"Today, I decided to accept Chen's invitation, upon the urging of other `policy advisory committee' members, to be chief advisor of the National Policy Advisory Committee," he said.
"As I would like to work more on social reform in addition to academic research, and also in an effort not to bring any inconvenience to my colleagues, I have decided to resign the post as president of the Academia Sinica," Lee said.
Born in 1936 in Hsinchu, Lee won a Nobel prize in chemistry in 1986. He has been head of the Academia Sinica since 1994.
He said he would send his resignation letter to President Lee Teng-hui (
A statement from the Presidential Office said the president would do everything possible to persuade Lee to remain in his position.
Lee has long been touted as the most popular potential figure in a future government. All three major presidential candidates have tried to win his support.
"I feel a Taiwan-loving force trying to elevate Taiwan; I see people feverishly discussing and anticipating ways to halt Taiwan from degenerating; to improve the quality of our democracy," he said. "I hope to contribute to this elevating force, however little my strength may be. This is the most important decision in my life. I am willing to contribute my heart and soul to this land of Taiwan."
He stressed two of his major concerns, namely domestic reform and cross-strait relations.
"As I said in a speech last week, it is of utmost importance for Taiwan to eradicate `black-gold' and to ease cross-strait relations," Lee said. "If Chen is elected and asks me to help him on cross-strait affairs, that is one thing I certainly can help with," he said.
People on both sides of the Strait want to live a better life and they do not have a deep grudge against each other, so there must be some way to bridge the differences, Lee said. While it is an important issue, which if badly managed could endanger world peace, it should be placed in a longer time frame, he said.
"But leaders on both sides should put the welfare of their people first; then, the cross-strait issue wouldn't be so serious," he said.
As for domestic reform, Lee said there was a sense of urgency and something had to be done immediately.
Lee had said that he was prompted to endorse Chen by seeing too many known members of organized crime groups stumping for other candidates.
"The election campaign has recently gotten bad. I am worried about the direction of our country, after seeing so many gangsters campaigning for candidates," Lee said last week.
Asked whether he would be Chen's premier if the DPP candidate is elected, or even run for the presidency in the future, Lee said he was not interested in becoming a politician.
"I am interested in seeing the role of non-profit, non-government organizations strengthened," he said.
"A nation's policy-making should be civil organization oriented," he said. "We should not wait until after the government makes policies and then criticize them. We should take the initiative."
Answering questions, he said that while many of his colleagues approved of his endorsing a presidential candidate, some did not, therefore it was better for him to resign his presidency to avoid controversy.
On Sunday a group of pro-unification scholars condemned Lee's endorsement of Chen, saying he was "fooled by pro-independence politicians" and that his endorsement "ruined an academic leader."
When asked if his resignation announcement was designed to offset the impact of yesterday's stock market crash in Taipei, Lee said, "No."
Lee also denied rumors that he had been threatened by gangsters, but said, "I do feel that I should watch out for my own safety."
He was originally scheduled to travel to Japan for a academic seminar, a trip that would have kept him out of Taiwan until after the election. But he said that when his schedule had been made he was not aware of the voting date.
"Now I'll stay to vote," he said.
See full speech inside
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