I think that my emergence as a leader is closely related to the development of Taiwan's democracy. Taiwan's democracy was a gradual development. It was done from the bottom up. Therefore a lot of the more successful political leaders come from civil society, those that are closer to the grass-roots level of the public.

Tsai Ing-wen

Categorized in : Thinking Successful Leader

I think that the society and our democracy are mature enough to place emphasis on the quality and the value of the individual politician, rather than their gender. Some people will find it fashionable to have a woman leader, but I think the reason people chose me as the leader of this country is because my policies and my values suit the needs of Taiwan today. We represent people who want to have change in the society.

Tsai Ing-wen

country people thinking

People feel anxious, especially when we have to wonder whether the president, Taiwan's democratically elected president, will be addressed as president. If he cannot even defend his own title, what can he defend for us?

Tsai Ing-wen

president wonder people

Taiwan is the Republic of China, the Republic of China is Taiwan.

Tsai Ing-wen

Over past period, we have handled relations with China very carefully. We do not take provocative measures, we make sure that there are no surprises, and we hope that through channels of communication, we can gradually build up trust.

Tsai Ing-wen

surprise communication past

I think Taiwan's economy needs an overall structural readjustment. Our new model focuses on innovation and research. This is different from our growth model in the past, which was centered on the manufacturing industry.

Tsai Ing-wen

innovation past thinking

We have always had diverse channels of communication across the strait. These include not just official communications but also people-to-people contacts... There are differences between the positions of the two sides of the strait. In Taiwan, we have done our best to minimize that gap. I believe that the Chinese realize the goodwill we have put forth at the inauguration.

Tsai Ing-wen

chinese communication believe

Different generations and people of different ethnic origins have different views on China. But they all agree on one thing. That is democracy.

Tsai Ing-wen

democracy different people

China is still our largest trading partner; however, complementarity between our economies is decreasing. We had the ability to organize a manufacturing process, and then we moved our manufacturing capability to China to make use of their labor pool.

Tsai Ing-wen

pool ability economy

If China do take economic measures to apply pressure to Taiwan, they will have to think about the price that they are going to pay. Because the surrounding countries will be looking very carefully at what measures China will take against Taiwan.

Tsai Ing-wen

economic country thinking

I am not clear what the U.S. means when they use the term "entity." For us here in Taiwan, we believe that we are a country, a democratic country.

Tsai Ing-wen

mean believe country

I think that Chairman Xi Jinping's courage tackling corruption is an important matter in the development of Chinese society. I also look forward to him showing a bit more flexibility in dealing with cross-strait relations. I hope that he can appreciate that Taiwan is a democratic society in which the leader has to follow the will of the people.

Tsai Ing-wen

appreciate people thinking

For years, Taiwan has been dominated politically by a single party, the Kuomintang. People now want the place to be more democratic. They want to place more emphasis on human rights and transparency in terms of government decision-making. This is different from the way the government conducted business in the days when this was pretty much an authoritarian place.

Tsai Ing-wen

party different people

Using tourists as political tools would only create antipathy in Taiwanese people, tourism shouldn't be politicized.

Tsai Ing-wen

world

The Chinese military threat is targeting all Taiwanese and impacting peace, stability and safety in the region.

Tsai Ing-wen

world

Very unfortunately, although China had made progress in economic development in recent years, its human rights and freedom were still greatly oppressed, we also care a lot about the development of democracy and human rights in mainland China, and hope China could walk toward that path.

Tsai Ing-wen

world

I hope that both sides of the Taiwan Strait can enjoy the universal values of freedom and democracy.

Tsai Ing-wen

top-news

Unless China takes provocative action, Tsai Ing-wen likely won't go in the direction of amending the constitution to change the status quo.

Tsai Ing-wen

world

We will wait and see if this can be achieved. I want to again remind President Ma that if he cannot do this then the people of Taiwan will be very disappointed.

Tsai Ing-wen

most-read-articles

I am also committed to a consistent, predictable and sustainable relationship with China.

Tsai Ing-wen

world

Democracy is not just an election, it is our daily life.

Tsai Ing-wen

daily election democracy life