Wed, Sep 25, 2002 page3

• First lady to speak of `unforgettable legacy'

  • By Lin Chieh-yu / STAFF REPORTER
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  In her second speech of her trip to the US, first lady Wu Shu-jen (吳淑珍) was expected to explain yesterday how Taiwan's achievements in becoming a democracy was not just a success story but "an unforgettable legacy to the world."

  Wu was to give the speech at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, on the second leg of her 11-day visit.

  Wu begins the speech, entitled "Courage, Faith and Trust," by expressing her respect for the people of the US for their admirable and impressive performance after the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11 last year.

  "Sept. 11 was also a call to all freedom-loving and democratic countries of the world to strengthen their solidarity and stand together," she says, according to an advance copy of the speech given to journalists.

  "By working hand-in-hand to fight terrorism, we can ensure that our values of democracy and peace are not weakened by a small number of extremists."

  Wu relates in the speech her personal experiences to those of US citizens' after the attacks.

  In 1985, while accompanying her husband to thank voters for their support after President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) unsuccessful bid to become Tainan County commissioner, she was seriously injured after being run over by a truck.

  "Although my life was spared after multiple operations, as you can see I have been confined to a wheelchair ever since," she says.

  Wu says that after her life was spared, her husband was then convicted in a politically biased trial and sent to prison for 246 days.

  "You can all imagine, for a woman paralyzed from the waist down, for a wife whose husband was imprisoned and for the mother of two young children, how tough the challenges were in those days," she says.

  Nevertheless, Wu added, in the face of all these difficulties, neither Chen nor she ever lost the courage to fight for democracy.

  "As we continued to struggle in the political arena, we met failures and we found successes," she says, "but we never gave up out of frustration, nor did we ever rest on our laurels. Instead, because we always held on to our faith in democracy and freedom, we earned the trust of the Taiwanese people."

  In fact, she says, such an attitude toward life is a microcosm of that of the Taiwanese people. For most of its several hundred years of history, Taiwan has experienced invasion, colonial rule and authoritarianism.

  "Over the past half century, countless Taiwanese sacrificed themselves without looking back in the struggle for freedom, democracy and the universal values of human rights," Wu says. "They have written our history with their blood and tears. It is this process of tempering that has forged Taiwan into the democratic and prosperous society you see today."

  Taiwan, which upholds freedom and democracy, seeks peace and human rights, is much more than merely a "success story," as US Secretary of State Colin Powell has called it, she says.

  "The Taiwanese people have an absolute conviction and steadfast perseverance that we must leave an unforgettable legacy to the world, that we must contribute to the development of human civilization, and that Taiwan's existence will always make the world a brighter place," she concludes.
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