Native daughter of Taiwan, Lu Hsiu-lien was born in 1944 in the northern Taiwan city of Taoyuan on the day of the Normandy Invasion in Europe. Although she was almost given up for adoption twice during her childhood, she was able to excel in her studies. Her father often read stories of great people to her, shaping her political thinking, and he also paid special attention to developing her oratorical skills.
Lu’s mother, in addition to being burdened with house chores, traveled around Taiwan to help her husband run the family business, uncharacteristic for women of that time. She proved to be as strong as a man in her ability to endure hardships, and was always proud to say, “There is not a single woman in our family who is not doing the work of men.?
Although Ms. Lu grew up in conservative times, she always encouraged herself to succeed, hoping to let facts speak for themselves that men are not necessarily better than women. Upon graduation from elementary school she won the county magistrate award, and in her first major school examination, she lived up to expectations by becoming one of the six girls from Taoyuan to enter what was then the Taiwan Provincial Taipei First Girls High School, still Taiwan’s most prestigious high school for girls.
As a teenager, Ms. Lu was especially fond of Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s foresight and innovative thinking. She also admired Dr. Hu Shih (1891-1962, also known as Hu Shih-chih) for his liberal attitude and open-mindedness. These role models led her to choose the penname “Yat Chih?after Dr. Sun Yat-sen and Hu Shih-chih. She often put her thoughts and emotions in writing and showed a profound interest in literature, voraciously reading famous works.
In senior high school, Ms. Lu corresponded with pen pals in several countries, at one time simultaneously corresponding with nine pen pals in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium, Japan, and Nigeria. Such friendships helped her to develop a broader and more global perspective. Through practical usage and in interesting ways she encouraged herself to study English. She felt honored to be engaged in people-to-people diplomacy, and began to dream about pursuing a diplomatic career that entailed world travel.
In 1963, Ms. Lu passed the Joint College and University Entrance Examinations and entered National Taiwan University (NTU), where she won first place in her class at the judicial administration division of the Department of Law. Later, she also scored the highest grades in the entrance exam of NTU’s Graduate Institute of Law. She was awarded a prestigious scholarship and left to pursue a master’s degree in comparative law at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, in the United States.
During her first trip abroad, she stopped in Tokyo for a day and was deeply impressed by the prosperous and modern city. She envied this neighboring Asian city for its convenient subway, modern high-rises, and comprehensive public facilities. She was curious as to how others were able to accomplish such feats, and wondered when Taiwan would become as good, if not better.
In September 1970, at the peak of the women’s liberation movement in the US, American women celebrated the 50th anniversary of women’s suffrage. After immersing herself in contemporary articles and materials on feminist issues, Ms. Lu felt a deep sadness over the long historical plight of women in patriarchal societies. She also noticed how women’s groups had organized and triggered other social movements.
A year later, Ms. Lu returned to Taiwan and was assigned as both senior specialist and section chief of the Executive Yuan’s Legal Affairs Committee. At that time, there was a heated debate about whether universities should set up certain barriers to prevent girls from entering colleges. In response to the general attitude favoring boys over girls, and the methods to deprive women of educational opportunities, she contributed a series of seven well-written essays for publication in the United Daily News under the title “Traditional Roles of Men and Women.?At the age of 27, she launched the new feminist movement in Taiwan.
Ms. Lu believes that new feminism is a new way of thinking that matches the trend of the times according to the needs of society. It is a concept that supports prosperity and harmony for both sexes based on substantial gender equality. Furthermore, it is a force for helping eliminate traditional prejudices against women, and constructing a rational value system for modern times. In this way, women are free to develop independent personalities and self-respect, which leads to an equal society for both sexes. Ms. Lu has therefore emphasized three fundamental concepts: First, one must be a person before being a man or a woman. Second, people should do what they are best at, regardless of gender. Third, no talents should be wasted, and women should thus be able to develop their abilities and wisdom and contribute to society. In order to establish a new society and realize new feminism, Ms. Lu called for new measures, including the establishment of an hourly based, part-time job system; implementation of a flexible working structure; cooperation in the management of the home; simplification and beautification of household affairs; and protection for pregnant women against layoffs and pay cuts. She has expressed her deepest wish that every Taiwan woman will foster “self-consciousness, self-love, self-strength, and self-independence.?
Few can understand the difficulty of sowing the seeds of feminism under such adverse conditions. In the conservative society of Taiwan, Ms. Lu was wildly attacked and insulted, causing great physical and psychological anguish. With the help of enthusiastic supporters, she organized the Women of the Times Association, which focused on researching documents, publishing books, organizing activities, and providing consultative services. Later, the Home for Pioneers was set up as a base for feminist activities. The Pioneer Press, Women’s Resource Center, and hotlines were also established, but their operations failed due to interference from the government, particularly from the Investigation Bureau of the Ministry of Justice. This was the first time Ms. Lu became conscious of the ubiquitous presence of the KMT government’s intelligence service, and it marked the beginning of her new political realization.
On May 20, 1978, Chiang Ching-kuo was elected the sixth-term president of the ROC. In December 1978, the United States announced that on January 1, 1979, it would establish diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China. This was another severe blow to the people in Taiwan, coming after the ROC’s withdrawal from the United Nations in 1971 and the signing of the Shanghai Communiqu?of 1972. At the time, Ms. Lu was studying for her second master’s degree at Harvard University, and immediately spoke to many scholars and experts about the situation. Once she was certain that the US would sever diplomatic ties with the ROC, she was filled with deep sadness. Although many in Taiwan were seeking to emigrate to other countries, Ms. Lu decided to abandon her research and return to Taiwan for the National Assembly election. Taking advantage of the increased freedom of speech during the campaign period, she told the people important facts and sought to counter the deception of the government. The problem of Taiwan became the subject of her speeches, and her strong feelings and purposeful return to Taiwan aroused the spirit of many Taiwanese, moving them to tears. The momentum of her campaign swept across the Taoyuan constituency in northern Taiwan. As a result, the intelligence service served her warnings and placed her under surveillance.
The severance of diplomatic relations with the US had dimmed Taiwan’s future, and greatly changed Ms. Lu’s life. She joined the pro-democracy, non-KMT camp
(dang wai), and participated in street demonstrations. Her participation in a series of resistance activities in the midst of suppression eventually drew her into the vortex of politics. In 1979, after delivering a 20-minute speech at a human rights rally, an event later called the “Kaohsiung Incident,?she was sentenced to 12 years in prison for sedition and deprived of her civil rights. She was 36 years old.
Although the dark prison kept her physically in captivity, it could not confine her thoughts and soul, and she continued to read and write. After five years and four months of imprisonment, the efforts of her friends in Taiwan and pressure from Amnesty International finally helped her win medical leave for treatment of thyroid carcinoma. While her friends were saddened to see how prison life had aged her, she urged herself to quickly stand up again. After having passed through this long and dark valley, she did not intend to return empty-handed.
When Ms. Lu re-entered society, she astounded people with her formidable energy. For five years, from her release on medical parole in March 1985 to 1990, as a prisoner of conscience, she traveled throughout the US and Europe carrying out a diplomacy of human rights. She made speeches, visited opposition party leaders in Japan and South Korea, and received the Massachusetts Teachers Association Human and Civil Rights Award. Ms. Lu also initiated the establishment of the North American Taiwanese Women’s Association and the Clean Election Coalition. She promoted a series of activities supporting “Popular Democracy and Constitutional Reform,?participated in discussions on a “Democratic Constitution?with the Democratic Progressive Party’s constitution group, and went to the Chinese mainland to preach her three principles of “humanity, rationality, and goodness?to high-ranking officials of the State Council and Taiwan Affairs Office. During this period, Ms. Lu continued to research and write, and in addition to publishing two novels written during her imprisonment,
These Three Women and Empathy, she also published I Love Taiwan and Viewing Taiwan from
Abroad. She also wrote Re-trying the Formosa Case and supervised the current events criticism section of the
Taiwan Gong Lun Bao.
In 1991, Ms. Lu initiated the “I Love Taiwan?movement, and in December of that year, further developed citizen’s diplomacy by organizing and leading the Alliance for the Promotion of UN Membership for Taiwan to New York. Thus, she became the pioneer in promoting Taiwan’s efforts to participate in the United Nations.
Since childhood, Ms. Lu had dreamed of becoming a diplomat. At the end of 1992, she took a step closer to fulfilling that dream when she garnered more than 70,000 votes and was elected to the Legislative Yuan to represent the Taoyuan area. After being elected, Ms. Lu’s role and mission were even more clearly defined. During her three-year term, she tenaciously held her position on the foreign affairs committee and proposed two policies on “normalizing Taiwan-Chinese mainland relations?and “making the Taiwan issue an international one.?She also took the opportunity to attend international gatherings in order to assert that “Taiwan is not a part of the People’s Republic of China.?
Ms. Lu knows that it is not easy to make the world understand the myths and reality of Taipei-Beijing relations. Therefore, she has worked hard to establish friendly ties with foreign countries so that they would be more willing to “say yes?to Taiwan. In addition to raising the visibility of Taiwan in the international community so as to gain understanding and attention, Ms. Lu visited high-ranking foreign officials. She also took the opportunity during interviews with the international media to talk about the Taiwan issue. After all these efforts, she succeeded in registering the name “Taiwan International Alliance?with the US federal government. The establishment of the alliance enabled relevant affairs to be carried out in a more convenient and flexible manner and served as a broad international communication network.
A noteworthy event took place in February 1994, when Ms. Lu chaired the Third Global Summit of Women held in Taiwan. At first, this seemed to be a “mission impossible,?because the original host country, Spain, backed out for economic reasons, and the conference sponsor did not inquire into Ms. Lu’s willingness to chair until only six months prior to the summit. She was very hesitant, worrying that the government would not give her full support because she was a member of the opposition party. In addition, Taiwan is not an English-speaking country and language could pose a barrier. A further problem was how to invite guests from countries that have no diplomatic relations with the ROC. If Beijing boycotted the participation of those countries, many might not come to Taiwan, damaging the success of the conference and harming Taiwan’s reputation. After consideration, however, Ms. Lu understood that if the summit could be held in Taiwan, it would be a great opportunity to raise Taiwan’s international profile. For Taiwan’s good, Ms. Lu accepted this challenging task.
The summit attracted more than 200 leaders from 70 countries representing governments, business, academia, and the women’s movement. The theme of the conference was “Women and Political Leadership,?and during the four-day conference, numerous ideas and experiences were exchanged and many theses delivered.
On March 3, 1994, Ms. Lu attended the Preparatory Meeting for the Fourth United Nations World Conference on Women in her capacity as an NGO representative. She attended official observers meetings with official observer status. This disquieted Beijing, and a battle of boycotts and pressure between Taipei and Beijing ensued. In recent years, as Taiwan has sought to expand its international presence, such offensive and defensive struggles between Taiwan and China have become commonplace.
President Lee Teng-hui thought highly of Ms. Lu’s outstanding achievements as a legislator in promoting the ROC’s foreign relations, and invited her to serve as national policy advisor beginning May 20, 1996. Six months later, she was asked by the DPP to run for magistrate of Taoyuan County, following the brutal murder of Magistrate Liu Pang-yu. Fulfilling the ardent expectations of her hometown, she won the by-election with more than 324,000 votes, re-writing the county’s long history of KMT rule. Nine months later, she won re-election with an overwhelming 375,000 ballots.
During her tenure of 30 months, Ms. Lu, with her forthright style and resolve, carried out a policy of environmental, industrial, cultural, and spiritual reform. She sought to purify, beautify, and internationalize Taoyuan County, once notorious for problems of waste disposal and money politics. She re-positioned Taoyuan as the “nation’s gateway and hope?and directed the county administration toward these goals. The county government pursued the three main programs of “building a gold coast,?“developing the Taoyuan Silicon Valley,?and “promoting tourism,?by seeking investments that were not only valued by the central government, but also respected by major national and international business consortia. The county also obtained the right to host major activities, such as the National Folk Art Festival, the Aboriginal Sports Meet, and the first National Games. These innovations received positive responses. Satisfaction with Ms. Lu’s administration in Taoyuan County jumped from third last to third best nationally. The changes also significantly improved the image of the county and brought new spirit and energy.
As a female magistrate, Ms. Lu did not forget her commitment to women. She first established the Center for Women and Children’s Safety to provide assistance, such as a counseling hotline, legal services, and personal development workshops. She also introduced school buses to spare parents from worrying about their children’s safety. She secured funding to build the first multi-functional women’s center in Taiwan.
The DPP has long been known for its concern for social welfare, and Ms. Lu has carried out many social service policies, despite a limited budget. In view of the aging population of Taoyuan County, she launched a series of policies immediately upon taking office, including issuing bonuses to the elderly during the three major traditional holidays; setting up a “greetings-over-the-phone?protection network for the aged; distributing chip bracelets to those with mental and physical disabilities and the aged who, if lost, could be found and sent home by the police and medical personnel; establishing an emergency communication system; creating a “university?for senior citizens; and organizing a human resource bank of seniors so they could live happy and fulfilling lives after years of dedication to society.
To accommodate the Ministry of Education’s smaller-class policy, Ms. Lu worked to build 34 new schools, including 25 elementary schools. To meet the new era of international competition, she also officially introduced English instruction into the curriculum in 1999, and more than 800 classes were offered. In addition, teaching materials for Holo, Hakka, and other indigenous languages were compiled. To promote the ideals of gender equality, a publication for teachers, Gender Campus, and for students,
Youth Gender Express News, were begun.
On December 10, 1999, Ms. Lu was invited to serve as running mate by Chen Shui-bian, the presidential candidate for the Democratic Progressive Party. On March 18, 2000, Chen and Lu were elected as the tenth-term president and vice president of the Republic of China, winning nearly five million votes. Their election marked the beginning of a new era of party change, and rule shared by both men and women.
Since becoming the first woman to serve as vice president of the ROC on May 20, 2000, Ms. Lu has devoted even greater effort to promoting her “soft power?ideals: human rights, democracy, peace, love, and high technological progress. She has traveled the world over to promote “soft diplomacy?for Taiwan. She has taken her message to international leaders, extolling the virtues of “soft power?over the traditional precepts of “hard power,?which so often lead to centralization of power and even military hegemony. The vice president has also worked to raise Taiwan’s profile internationally and focus attention on Taiwan. Expounding peace, friendship, and harmony, she has helped Taiwan reach out to the world and lead the world to Taiwan.
Vice President Lu responded to the US-led war against terrorism by initiating the “Fight Global Terrorism—Provide Humanitarian Aid?campaign to bring relief to refugees in Afghanistan. Moreover, she launched numerous charity initiatives, including the Sending Love to India and Sending Love to Tibet campaigns, to convey Taiwan’s love throughout the world and share the advantages of “soft power?with other countries. An old Chinese proverb states: “Those who are moral will never be alone.?Vice President Lu’s efforts have won her considerable acclaim and a string of honors, including the 2001 World Peace Prize, the 2003 honorary award for special contribution—also known as the Taiwan Nobel Prize—from the Taiwanese-American Foundation, and the first Alumni Achievement Award of 2003 from the College of Law of the University of Illinois. As a woman of great modesty, however, the vice president attributed the honor to the efforts of her fellow citizens, saying that the prizes represent global affirmation of the Taiwanese people.
Vice President Lu has demonstrated to the international community Taiwan’s efforts and achievements in human rights, democracy, pacifism, and humanitarianism. Moreover, she has traveled extensively throughout Taiwan in her capacity as convener of the Presidential Office’s Science and Technology Consulting Committee to promote the development of the high-tech industry—a pillar of Taiwan’s economy—and to appeal for the investment of capital and talent. The vice president has offered incisive views on the localization and internationalization of Taiwan’s tourism industry, and has taken on the heavy responsibility of revitalizing local tourism as convener of the National Federation of Tourism. In addition, she has provided assistance and made more than 60 inspection tours to areas hit hardest by 1999’s September 21 Earthquake, one of her most important tasks. For three years following the disaster, Vice President Lu made annual trips to Nantou and Taichung on the anniversary of the quake to join local residents in prayers for blessings, offering comfort and taking concrete steps to speed reconstruction.
To promote the concepts of this new era, Vice President Lu, in her capacity as convener of the Presidential Office’s Human Rights Advisory Committee, has demonstrated outstanding dedication to bringing the nation’s human rights in line with international standards. She also pushed for the establishment of the Pacific Democratic Union, expanding Taiwan’s vision to encompass the entire Pacific region and uniting Pacific Rim democracies into a single community under the common values of democracy, ocean civilization, and sustainable development.
The vice president’s four-year term passed quickly. Other senior DPP members deferred in favor of her service and experience, and she was again invited to join President Chen Shui-bian to run for re-election. The presidential election was unprecedented in its intensity, which was heightened by the traumatic shock of a failed assassination attempt that fortunately caused only slight injuries to both President Chen and herself. On March 20, 2004, the pair won more than 6.47 million votes to become the eleventh-term president and vice president of the Republic of China. A look toward the future shows that an extraordinary era has already unfolded. This era calls for excellence, innovation, and even more, accommodation of diversity and pluralistic development. Vice President Lu is applying these principles to transform Taiwan into a shining pearl as well as a treasure island in the new Pacific century.
