Tsai Ing-wen Quotes

A democratic crisis can only be settled by more democracy.

I shall on all subjects have a policy to recommend, but none to enforce against the will of the people.

Our concepts of ballot-box democracy may need to be modified to produce strong governments capable of making difficult decisions

Mao almost never allowed public opinion to restrain his policies; the popular will was something he himself defined …. Today, in contrast, almost all Chinese leaders openly speak about the importance of public opinion with the goal being to preempt problems.

In the democratic countries generally, the great body of citizens are refusing to wait until negotiations are over or policies are acted upon or even determined. They demand to know what is going on and to have an opportunity to express their opinions at all stages of diplomatic proceedings…. public opinion will be increasingly not merely the ultimate judge but an immediate and active force in negotiation.

In a democracy such as ours military policy is dependent on public opinion.

This public rally is aimed at informing the whole world of the will of the people... Our purpose is to show that the entire people entertain the keenest desire for a multiparty democratic system of government.

Because America is a democracy, public support for presidential foreign-policy decisions is essential.

Our constitutional system is founded on democracy: the will of the people, not the unchecked rule of judges.

The sanctity of law can be maintained only so long as it is the expression of the will of the people.

We have been engaging the Government of Swaziland for some time on this issue of the democratization of Swaziland. In particular, I had asked the Deputy President to engage the Government on this and, indeed, he has. We will continue to do this, because we do think that, as has been communicated to the Government of Swaziland, that Swaziland must go through this democratization process, a constitution-making process in which they have been engaged for some time, and really seek a national consensus about it.

We need to reform the political system, or we'll lose the democracy. I don't think it's that hard. It doesn't take rocket science. We've done it before successfully at the presidential level and tried it several places at the state level.

There is no future for Tunisia without consensus among political parties and members of civil society.

You have to be ready for anything. It's a good reminder about democracy. Voters can tell you to carry on, or chuck you out. You've got to be ready for both.

I believe that sovereignty is the twin sister of democracy. If there's no sovereignty, there's no democracy.

We can't have an intelligent foreign policy unless we have an intelligent public, because we're a democracy.

The democratic system is premised on trust in the masses' wisdom. We believe that the collective is wiser than its parts and that, at the end of the day, it shall make the right choices and take the right decisions.

When we understand and respect Beijing's insistence on some aspects, we hope Beijing can understand and respect Taiwan's insistence on democracy and freedom.

Implementing universal suffrage for the 2017 election is a big step forward along our road to democracy. This is not only a solemn commitment of the central authorities to Hong Kong but also the aspiration shared by seven million Hong Kong people.

In a mature democracy any proposed policy should be subjected to a close analysis of its likely benefits and costs.

As we look back over the sweep of American history, it has been the American Presidency that has best fulfilled the vision of the Founders. It has brought to our Republic a dynamism and effectiveness that other democracies have lacked.

We don't go against the will of the people.

We the people tell the government what to do, it doesn't tell us.

And the principle which distinguishes democracy from all other forms of government is that in a democracy the opposition not only is tolerated as constitutional but must be maintained because it is in fact indispensable.

The power under the Constitution will always be in the people.