Crowds yesterday gathered at a memorial for late president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) set up by the Presidential Office at the Taipei Guest House to pay their last respects to Lee, who passed away at Taipei Veterans General Hospital on Thursday aged 97.
Control Yuan President Chen Chu (陳菊), Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中), Taoyuan Mayor Cheng Wen-tsan (鄭文燦), former Judicial Yuan president Weng Yueh-sheng (翁岳生), Democratic Progressive Party Deputy Secretary-General Lin Fei-fan (林飛帆) and former Research, Development and Evaluation Commission chairman Sun Te-hsiung (孫得雄) were among those who visited the memorial.
Chen Chu said what moved her most and was most memorable of him was when Lee, then aged 90, visited the Siaolin Village Memorial Park to pay his respects to the victims of Typhoon Morakot.
Photo: CNA
In a note she left on a message wall, Chen Chu asked Lee to “protect the land of Taiwan and guard the kind people.”
In their notes, Chen Shih-chung wrote that a “giant of an era” had passed away, while Cheng wrote “illuminate Taiwan, protect democracy.”
Cheng said that during the Wild Lily student movement, Lee was the main figure who spoke to the students, and promised to open Taiwan’s doors to democratization.
Photo: CNA
Lee played a crucial role in Taiwan’s transition from authoritarianism to democracy, he added.
Lin in his note wrote that he and people of his generation would fulfill Lee’s wish and bolster Taiwan’s democracy, develop the nation and make its people happy.
Sun, among the first batch of students Lee taught at National Taiwan University Department of Agricultural Economics, placed a handwritten letter in front of the late president’s photograph.
Former president Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁), who succeeded Lee in 2000, remembered him in a Facebook post.
He recalled how after the transfer of power on May 20, 2000, he personally saw Lee off.
“The sight of his back was a microcosm of Taiwanese spirit, culture and history,” he said. “Now the sight of the back of the old captain of Taiwan’s boat of democracy can no longer be seen again,” he said.
Additional reporting by CNA
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