Tsai Ing-wen Quotes
We attach great importance to the peaceful development of cross-strait relations. But if our diplomatic relations is subject to China's goodwill, we will lose the autonomy of our diplomacy.
Tsai, Ing-wen. "President Tsai's Inaugural Address." Office of the President, Republic of China (Taiwan), 20 May 2016.
Inscribed in the John Adams Building of the Library of Congress. On this subject Jefferson was in agreement with George Washington {37176} and his political opponent, John Adams {592705}.
American Presidents after Wilson have not, in general, shared this view. By the latter part of the 20th century judgmentalism was a major component of American foreign policy and reached its zenith with the administration of George W. Bush.
This quotation illustrates a huge reversal of policy. When Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists were defeated by the Communist Chinese in the Civil War, the Nationalists retreated to the island of Formosa (Taiwan) which was the only Chinese Province they held. There was the thought of setting up a separate nation on Taiwan, but Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists insisted that there was only one China and that they were the rightful government. At the time they held the Chinese UN Seat. The Communists also insisted that there was one China and Taiwan was a part of it with the Nationalists there being rebels. Chiang Kai-shek maintained that the people really wanted the Nationalists and they could take back the mainland. That turned out to be unrealistic and then the UN seat was given to the Communists as they were the de facto government of all of China except the province of Taiwan. There was nothing that the Nationalists and Communists agreed upon except that there was one China and Taiwan was a part of it. That, and the request of the Nationalist Chinese, has been the U. S Policy for decades. However by the 21st century, it was clear, even to the most fervent Nationalists, the Chinese Communists had won the allegiance of the majority of the Chinese people and they were not going to be successful in mounting a counter-revolution. Moreover, the Communist Military was much superior and some of the Nationalists started worry that Taiwan would be governed by the Communists along with the rest of China, So Lu and other Nationalists, flip flopped and took the position that Taiwan was an independent country—a view that is not recognized by the U. S. or China.
Tsai Ing-wen is a Taiwanese politician and academic serving as the seventh president of Taiwan, since 2016. A member of the Democratic Progressive Party, Tsai is the first female president of Taiwan. She has served as Chair of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) since 2020, and previously from 2008 to 2012 and 2014 to 2018.
