Taiwan’s democratic achievements would not have been possible without the solidarity that had formed from the crucible of adversity, former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday at the launch of an exhibition celebrating former president Lee Teng-hui’s (李登輝) legacy.
Her comments came days after the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) suffered a rout at the ballot box in Sunday’s recall votes targeting 24 Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers.
Each generation of Taiwanese must face their unique challenge, she said, adding that the 1990 Wild Lily Student Movement under Lee’s administration sparked the tsunami that ended the Period of National Mobilization in Suppression of Communist Rebellion and ushered in democracy.
Photo: Liu Hsin-de, Taipei Times
“The generational challenge before us is that of expanding civic participation to allow the voice of the people to be heard,” Tsai said.
Successfully overcoming this challenge is crucial for strengthening the nation’s democratic institutions and safeguarding the hard-won fruits of freedom, she said.
Taiwan’s struggle for democracy has never been smooth sailing and overcoming adversity was the crucible of national solidarity that enabled Taiwan to achieve democratic progress, she added.
“We must have faith when confronted by the inevitable setbacks and frustrations on the road to democracy,” Tsai said, adding that every person who participated in a democracy movement contributed to progress.
Tsai thanked the recall campaign volunteers and Taiwanese nationals living abroad who returned to the nation to vote, saying: “We have learned a most valuable civic lesson together.”
The election proved that democracy is not an empty slogan, but a process rooted in the daily lives and choices of Taiwanese, she said.
Democracy is a generational project and this generation of Taiwanese would gather the courage to face the trials the nation must undergo in the next phase of its history, she added.
The free “PROTOTYPE: Mr Democracy 2.0” exhibition — which features artificial intelligence (AI) — is being hosted at the National Taiwan Library for the next two years.
Visitors can engage with the AI-generated Lee by asking him questions in Mandarin, English, Japanese and Hoklo (commonly known as Taiwanese), languages that the real Lee understood.
Lee pushed for constitutional reforms that mandated the re-election of National Assembly members in 1991 and the first full re-election of lawmakers since 1948 the following year.
Lee in 1996 oversaw Taiwan’s first direct presidential election, which sparked the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis, when China conducted a series of missile tests close to the nation.
Lee’s contributions to democratizing Taiwan and his election that year earned him the nickname “Mr Democracy” from Newsweek magazine.
Annie Lee (李安妮), daughter of the former president and chairperson of the Lee Teng-hui Foundation, in her speech at the launch ceremony said: “This is not only a tribute to my father, but a commitment to Taiwan’s future. Democracy is not just a system, it’s a belief.”
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