"I told [former] president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) that I too am a `New Taiwanese,'" said incoming director of the Taipei Office of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) Stephen Young at a press conference on Wednesday at AIT's Washington Office.
Young, who assumes his new post on March 18, speaks good Mandarin and has been taking classes in Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese) in preparation for his new job.
Besides looking forward to meeting with President Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) again, Young, who previously served as deputy director of AIT's Taipei Office from 1998 to 2001, also talked about the prospect of future talks with Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌), Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and other political leaders.
Young said that Taiwan's democracy could be a model for countries around the world. He also said that Taiwan had made rapid progress and that he would be learning more about challenging issues such as the Taiwanese national identity, cross-strait relations and the special arms procurement bill.
Citing US President George W. Bush, who said in a speech in Kyoto, Japan, last November that Taiwan was a good example for China and the rest of the world to follow, Young said the nation could promote political openness in an orderly and stable way.
He said that while serving as the US ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, he had used Taiwan as an example to show that a country with limited resources can promote democracy.
Young said Taiwan's presidential elections in 2000 and 2004 did not result in significant instability or economic disruption, and this showed that its democracy had rapidly matured, something that both Taiwanese and Americans could be proud of.
Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have stressed the importance of the universal values of democracy and freedom, and if these were to be used as a gauge of friendship with the US, Taiwan would receive a high score, Young said.
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