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A. Lu: Address to Summit 2022, Session IV
Written by H.E. Annette Hsiu-lien Lu, vice president of Taiwan (2000-2008)
Friday, August 12, 2022
Address to Summit 2022 and Leadership Conference,
Seoul, Korea, August 11-15, 2022
Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, Chairman Thomas Walsh, distinguished leaders and guests, ladies and gentlemen: It is a great honor to be invited to speak before so many prestigious leaders. The Universal Peace Federation has set up an urgently important theme for the conference to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the passing of Rev. Sun Myung Moon. Under the leadership of Reverend Moon and Dr. Hak Ja Han Moon, UPF has made tremendous contributions to the world.
My name is Lu Hsiu-lien, vice president of the Republic of China (Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008. At a Human Rights Day rally in 1979, I delivered a 20-minute speech and was charged with sedition. The government sentenced me to 12 years in prison, along with seven other “seditious co-defendants.” In the military court there were 15 lawyers to defend us. Nobody would have expected that 20 years later the youngest lawyer, Chen Shui-bian, would invite me to campaign together and that we would overthrow the 50-year-long one-party autocracy and install democracy peacefully. What a miraculous testimony to democracy!
Today, standing before you, may I take this opportunity to invite all of you to make another miracle, the miracle of peace!
As you are aware, the two global superpowers, the United States and the People’s Republic of China, are engaging in a strategic competition, making Taiwan a pawn in this Thucydides Trap. More and more people worry that Taiwan will be the next Ukraine, especially after the visit to Taiwan of Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.
Just before my departure for Seoul, the PRC launched an aggressive military maneuver with missiles, drones, and warships demonstrating their ambition to take over Taiwan by force. The people and government in Taiwan remained calm but alert. The stock market jumped 2.27 percent.
According to the PRC’s “One China” principle, there is only one China and Taiwan is a part of China. What is the logic in this? Yes, there is one China, just as there is one Korea, one America, and one Japan, but Japan does not claim Taiwan as part of Japan, even though Japan ruled Taiwan for 50 years.
The PRC has to accept the historical facts: one, that China ceded Taiwan “in perpetuity” under the Treaty of Shimonoseki, signed in 1895; and two, that Japan surrendered in 1945 and relinquished the colonization of Taiwan on April 28, 1952, under the San Francisco Peace Treaty. The PRC also has to accept the reality that ever since its establishment in 1949, the PRC has never ruled Taiwan!
The PRC entered the United Nations in 1971 when UN Resolution 2758 was adopted. It should be noted that the resolution only decided on the PRC as the representative of China, without any mention of Taiwan. Regrettably, nearly the entire world was misled to believe that the UN decided that Taiwan is a part of Chinese territory, but this is not the case!
Like all sovereign states, Taiwan owns its territory, is populated with well-educated people and operates by an efficient government. Taiwan stands for peace and justice and has always been friendly with other countries, including China.
Up to 2019, 105 million Taiwanese visited China, and more than 22 million Chinese visited Taiwan. There are more than 350 thousand intermarriages between Taiwanese and mainland men and women. In terms of trade and investment, the statistics indicate that Taiwan always makes a significant surplus from China.
No better terminology can define the relationship of Taiwan and China than “distant relatives and close neighbors” (遠親近鄰). The resentment between both sides was the result of the struggles between Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek. It had nothing to do with the innocent Taiwanese people. Taiwanese people are the most amiable people on earth. While Koreans and Japanese are still uncomfortable with each other, Taiwanese and Japanese maintain good friendships despite the history of Japan’s colonization.
Geographically, Taiwan and China are close neighbors. The shortest distance between both sides is merely 130 kilometers. Most Taiwanese have Chinese ethnic origins. In Taiwan’s daily life, the heritage of Chinese culture and religion is everywhere. We have no blood feud, let alone a desire for a war!
In order to resolve the longtime disputes across the Taiwan Strait, I propose that the PRC’s claim over Taiwan shall make two changes: one, change “one China” (中國) to “one Chung-hwa” (中華), and, two, change the wording from “unification” to “integration.”
The term Chung-hwa refers to cultural and ethnic China or Chinese. Undeniably, most Taiwanese have their ancestors from mainland China. Chinese and Taiwanese people share the same culture and speak the same language. According to a poll, 73 percent of Taiwanese indicate they would maintain good and peaceful relationships with China.
Based on the principle of “one Chung-hwa” and the foundation of “distant relatives and close neighbors,” both sides shall create a friendly environment conducive to deeper integration for a Chinese confederation to include Tibet, Xinjiang and Mongolia in the long run, instead of a malicious military invasion for unification.
The 21st century is the era of the Pacific Ocean. Currently the American eagle and the Chinese dragon are competing with each other for global hegemony, making East Asia the powder keg of Asia. I firmly propose that the U.S. shall lead the formation of a Democratic Pacific Commonwealth as a value alliance based on soft power.
The best way is to start it with South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, which are all Confucian, democratic, and advanced high-tech countries. They are neighboring to China, North Korea, and even Russia, the three major communist states. Such a regional integration based on soft power rather than hard power definitely would strengthen American leadership and enrich our human civilization. All the other democratic countries in the Pacific are also welcome to join this Commonwealth.
The philosopher Aristotle said, “It is not enough to win a war; it is more important to organize the peace.” May I add that, in order to organize the peace, we have to invest in peace and prevent war.
Yes, we must invest in peace and prevent war!
I would like to announce that a new NGO, the Taiwan Society for Peace and Justice, founded by me and many peace-loving people, will be born on August 28. We are determined to prevent war and make peace. We will conduct a series of local and national conventions to debate on national policies and develop a new Taiwan consensus as our new China policy to replace the outdated 1992 Consensus upheld by the PRC. We will then enhance peace talks to improve cross-Strait relations and prevent a war from happening.
Will Taiwan become the next Ukraine? President Tsai Ing-wen has said that Taiwan is not Ukraine. More importantly, the people in Taiwan are determined to invest in peace and prevent war. We will use the power of wisdom and mercy to persuade our opponents to work together peacefully for a better future.
May God bless us!
May war perish and peace prevail!
To go to the World Summit 2022 Schedule page, click here.