"Now that the election is over, passions must subside"
The votes were still being tallied on Saturday when Chen Shui-bian
spoke with TIME's East Asia correspondent Terry McCarthy. Excerpts
from the interview:
TIME: What will be your first act as President?
Chen Shui-bian: First I have to make four calls and see one person.
The four calls will be to the other candidates to express my appreciation
for the opportunity I had to mature and grow during the campaign
period. The one person I must see is Lee Teng-hui, since I am succeeding
him as President. He contributed a lot to Taiwan's democracy and
progress, and I will seek his advice on many matters of domestic
and international affairs. I think we should form a government
that crosses ethnic and party lines,
and we should build links to all the other parties. Now that the
election is over, passions must subside, especially in cross-Strait
relations. We would propose active conciliation to reduce tensions.
TIME: What was the most memorable part of the campaign?
Chen: Initially, with the struggle inside my party for the nomination
and then the three-way race of candidates, some in the party didn't
support me and doubted my ability to win. But one year later the
party came around fully to be behind me. This has been a very complex
and moving transition for me. As I said in my speech [at the close of
his campaign last Friday], during all this campaigning and speaking
my body has grown very tired. But when I go home and see my wife and
family, my heart is not tired. All my supporters warm my heart and
give me great strength and encouragement.
TIME: How will you reassure Taiwan and the rest of the world that there
will not be war in the Taiwan Strait?
Chen: First of all, we will build a cross-party coalition to deal with
the very difficult issue of cross-Strait relations. I will not even wait
for the inauguration [on May 20] but start right away because this is
such an important issue. Without such a cross-party consensus behind me,
it would be very difficult to proceed. Second, although I am proud to
be a member of the DPI, national interests must come before party and
personal interests. I will keep a clear line between party and state
interests. I would like to visit the United States, Japan and possibly
Singapore and other concerned states to communicate with them on security
issues. And I also hope before May 20 to make a goodwill visit to China.
On cross-Strait relations, I will invite [Nobel Prize winner]
Dr. Lee Yuan-tseh to lead a group of consultants, and I will also invite
experts like chief cross-Strait negotiator Koo Chen-fu, who have been
working on this area in the past.
TIME: Is this a new era for Taiwan?
Chen: In this election we chose a new future, an end to the 55-year
monopoly on power by the MT. It is Taiwan's first handover of power, and
it is a consolidation of Taiwan's democracy. The U.S. had its first
handover of power 200 years ago. We are coming later, but we feel this
moment is truly historic. We will complete Taiwan's first peaceful
transition of power.
URL:http://cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/features/interviews/taiwan.chen.html
--
It is only with the heart that one can see right;
what is essential is invisible to the eye.
--<<Le Petit Prince>>--
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.twbbs.org)
◆ From: 86.c200.ethome.net.tw