Biographies
Lu Hsiu-lien
Vice President
Lu Hsiu-lien was born on June 7, 1944, in Taoyuan, Taiwan. In 1963, she won admission to the Law Department at National Taiwan University (NTU) with the highest entrance exam score of those admitted. After graduating from NTU at the top of her class, she received a master's degree in comparative law from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1971, and a master of laws (LL.M.) degree from Harvard University in 1978.
In the 1970s, Lu played a key role in introducing feminist ideas to Taiwan through a series of articles and books, and later became the country's leading women's rights activist. Before leaving to study at Harvard in 1977, she established a publishing house to propagate feminist ideas and a helpline for victims of domestic violence.
Perceiving that the United States was about to sever diplomatic relations with her homeland, Lu returned to Taiwan in 1978. She devoted herself to the democracy movement and planned to run for a seat in the National Assembly. The assembly's election was canceled, however, following the US decision to sever ties with Taiwan.
Lu remained active in the democracy movement and, in 1979, delivered a 20-minute speech criticizing the authoritarian government at the International Human Rights Day rally in Kaohsiung City. This led to her being charged with sedition under martial law, and she was sentenced to 12 years in prison. After she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, the Kuomintang (KMT) government came under intense pressure from human rights groups, including Amnesty International, to release her. In 1985, Lu was granted medical parole after spending nearly six years as a political prisoner.
Despite political interference and highly intrusive surveillance, Lu continued to campaign for women's rights, democracy, and international recognition for Taiwan. In 1993, she founded the Taiwan International Alliance to promote Taiwan's bid for membership in the United Nations, and became an opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator, serving as co-chair of the Legislature's Foreign Relations Committee. In 1994, she chaired the Global Summit of Women and, in 1995, the Feminist Summit for Global Peace.
In 1996, then President Lee Teng-hui appointed Lu national policy advisor. The following March, she won the by-election for Taoyuan County magistrate, promising to battle corruption and improve the local economy. Nine months later, she was re-elected by a wide margin.
Elected as the tenth-term vice president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) on March 18, 2000, Lu became the nation's first female vice president. Since then, she has made the promotion of gender equality and social justice her top priorities. On December 9, 2001, her longstanding contributions were formally recognized when she became the first woman to receive the World Peace Prize from the World Peace Corps Mission.
To raise Taiwan's international visibility, Vice President Lu has visited many foreign countries. In 2002, she embarked on a goodwill tour to the Vatican and Hungary. In Budapest, she delivered a keynote speech to the 51st Congress of Liberal International, becoming Taiwan's first vice president to address a major overseas international conference.
The Vice President places great emphasis on developing ties with democratic nations. In 2003, she chaired the first Democratic Pacific Assembly, a gathering of more than 60 prominent leaders from over 20 democratic countries in the Americas, Asia, and Oceania. In August 2005, she established the Democratic Pacific Union, an international organization committed to enhancing greater cooperation among Pacific democracies.
Together with President Chen Shui-bian, Vice President Lu was re-elected on March 20, 2004. She continues to strive to set an example of compassionate leadership through "soft power" by standing up for human rights at home and for Taiwan's welfare and rights in the international arena.