Lu Hsiu-lien 呂秀蓮
Eleventh-term Vice President, Republic of China (Taiwan)

　Lu Hsiu-lien was born on June 7, 1944, in Taoyuan, Taiwan. After graduating from Taipei Municipal First Girls' High School in 1963, she scored the highest marks in the entrance exam to the Law Department at National Taiwan University, and again earned first place in her class. She received a master's degree in comparative law from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1971, and an LL.M from Harvard University in 1978.

　In the 1970s, Ms. Lu introduced feminist ideas to Taiwan through a series of articles and books and later became the country's leading women's rights activist. She established a publishing house for advocating feminist ideas, along with hotlines for women victims of domestic violence before she left Taiwan in 1977 to study at Harvard.

　In 1978, perceiving that the United States would soon sever diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Ms. Lu gave up her studies and returned to Taiwan. She devoted herself to democratic movement in Taiwan and that autumn, ran for a seat in the National Assembly. However, when the US switched recognition to the PRC on December 16, the government canceled the election scheduled for December 23.

　The cancellation of the election did not deter her from fighting for a more democratic Taiwan. Instead, she stood firm and remained active in the dangwai 黨外, or local opposition movement. In 1979, she delivered a 20-minute speech criticizing the government at the International Human Rights Day rally that turned into a violent clash between demonstrators and the military police. For her role in what became known as the "Kaohsiung Incident," she was put on trial and, as martial law was in effect, unjustly sentenced to twelve years in prison for sedition. In prison, she was diagnosed to have thyroid carcinoma. Under the pressure from various human-rights groups, including Amnesty International, the government finally allowed her an early release for medical treatment in 1985. By then she had been imprisoned for 1993 days.

　Despite the political interference and highly authoritative surveillance of that era, Ms. Lu continued to campaign for women's rights, democracy, and international recognition for Taiwan. In 1993, she founded the Taiwan International Alliance to bid for Taiwan's membership in the United Nations. As a member of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, in 1993, Ms. Lu was elected to the Legislative Yuan, where she served as Co-Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee. In 1994, Ms. Lu hosted the Fourth Global Summit of Women, and in 1995, she chaired the Feminist Summit for Global Peace in Taipei.

　In 1996, President Lee Teng-hui appointed her National Policy Advisor. In the following March, in the by-election of Taoyuan County magistrate, Ms. Lu advocated reform to battle local corruption and improve the local economy, thereby winning the election. She was re-elected by a large margin in the regular election nine months later.

　On March 18, 2000, the opposition DPP won the historical presidential election and put an end to the KMT's ruling of the island. Ms. Lu, elected as the tenth-term vice president of the ROC, became the first female vice president of the country. After her inauguration, she decided to place top priority on promotion of gender equality and social justice. Her contributions were formally recognized when she became the first woman to receive the World Peace Prize from the World Peace Corps Academy on December 9, 2001.

　To promote Taiwan's international visibility, Vice President Lu has visited various foreign countries. In 2002 she embarked on a goodwill tour to the Vatican and Hungary. While in Budapest, she attended the 51st Congress of Liberal International and delivered a keynote speech, making her the first ROC Vice President ever to deliver a speech at an international conference. In September 2003, Vice President Lu chaired the First Democratic Pacific Assembly (DPA), attended by more than 60 prominent leaders from over 20 democratic countries across the Pacific. Because of its great success, the Vice President was authorized to host the second Assembly in August 2004 and to make it an annual forum for democratic leaders to discuss issues concerning the future of the Pacific. The long-term goal of DPA, as Vice President Lu proposes, is to reach a consensus to establish the Democratic Pacific Union, an NGO committed to enhancing greater cooperation among Pacific democracies.

　Vice President Lu was re-elected together with incumbent President Chen Shui-bian on March 20, 2004. She shall continue to lead with her unique "soft power" doctrine, a solution to absolutism and hegemony, and vie for the welfare and rights of the Taiwanese people in the international arena.