Annette Lu
Encyclopedia
Annette Lu Hsiu-lien was the Vice President of the Republic of China
(Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008, under Chen Shui-bian
. She announced her intentions to run for President of Taiwan on March 6, 2007, but withdrew in order to support DPP presidential nominee, Frank Hsieh
. Lu announced on February 25, 2011, that she would seek the DPP nomination for President of the Republic of China
in 2012
, but later withdrew her bid. Tsai Ing-wen
, chairwoman of the DPP, finally won the nomination. Lu is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party
and one of Taiwan's independence advocates. Lu is also a prominent feminist activist.
, in northern Taiwan, during Japanese rule
. After graduating from Taipei First Girls' High School
, she studied law at the National Taiwan University
. Graduating in 1967, she went on to gain a master's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
and another degree from Harvard University
.
movement, and worked on the staff of Formosa Magazine. Lu then became increasingly active in the tang-wai, the opposition movement calling for democracy and an end to authoritarian rule. In 1979 she delivered a 20-minute speech criticizing the government at an International Human Rights Day rally that later became known as the "Kaohsiung Incident." Following this rally, virtually the entire leadership of Taiwan's democracy movement, including Lu, was imprisoned. She was tried, found guilty of violent sedition, and sentenced by a military court to 12 years in prison. She was named by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, and partly due to international pressure was released in 1985, after approximately five-and-a-half years in jail.
Due to the male-dominated culture and combative nature of Taiwan politics, Lu, like several other female politicians subsequently, was nicknamed a "small chili pepper
." She was elected to the Legislative Yuan
in 1993. In 1997 she won an election to be a magistrate
in Taoyuan
.
Vice President. She was awarded the World Peace Corps Mission
's World Peace Prize
in 2001. Controversy erupted over this in Taiwan, with Lu's political opponents accusing her of vastly overstating the significance and value of that award. She was also the ROC's first elected vice president to adopt a Western first name.In her interview with TIME Asia Magazine,Lu said that the KMT never thought that they will transfer their regime to her on behalf of the freedom fighters.
In the months leading to the ROC presidential election, 2004
there was intense speculation as to whether she would be again chosen Chen's running mate, as party leaders had pressured him to choose someone else, presumably less controversial and outspoken to appeal to voters. But on December 11, 2003, Chen officially nominated Lu to run for a second term as he could not find a suitable partner.And he said that he respects Lu's academic background and probably she is the only one who is suitable to be Chen's running mate.
Lu was a contender for the 2008 presidential election
; she announced her candidacy on March 6 and faced Yu Shyi-Kun
(former DPP chairman and executive premier), Frank Hsieh
(former DPP chairman, former premier, former Kaohsiung mayor), and Su Tseng-Chang
(former DPP chair, former premier) for the nomination.
After receiving only 6.16% of the votes cast in the DPP primary, Vice President Lu withdrew from the race.
suggested that the shooting was not an assassination attempt but that it was staged to a self-inflicted wound in order to gain sympathy votes. The Chen/Lu ticket won the election on the following day with a 0.228% margin, a figure significant to those who related it the assassination incident.
After the election, she continued to make statements which contributed to a public impression that she was too conversational and tactless. In a June 2004 meeting with expatriates in San Francisco, she proposed to officially rename her country "Taiwan Republic of China" to pacify domestic disputes over Taiwan's identity. However, this drew heat from both sides, ranging from those who wanted to drop the "Republic of China" completely and those who pointed out that her proposal violated the Five Noes
. Lu was careful to state that this was just her personal opinion and not an official proposal. She drew more controversy after flooding in Taiwan, in which she made statements which were portrayed as an attack on Taiwanese aborigines
for living in flood prone areas.
than President Chen Shui-bian
, and as such has been more heavily attacked than Chen both by the government of the People's Republic of China
as well as by supporters of Chinese reunification
.
She often appears at odds with Chen, particularly with regard to cross-Strait policy
. While Chen initially sent conciliatory signals, Lu consistently made inflammatory comments to the media. Her confrontational remarks have led state newspapers in mainland China to accuse her of provoking "animosity between the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits". PRC state media has also labeled Lu as "insane" and a "scum of the earth.
In 2010 Lu visited South Korea
and advocated Taiwan's use of what she called "soft power
," meaning peaceful economic and political development, as a model for the resolution of international conflicts.
was also indicted on the same day and immediately resigned his chairmanship of the Democratic Progressive Party, he promised he would resign if indicted. On the same day, DPP member and National Security Office Secretary-General Mark Chen
was also indicted on corruption charges. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/21/AR2007092102110.html
Vice President of the Republic of China
The Vice President of the Republic of China is the second-highest executive official of the Republic of China . The existing office was created in 1948 under the 1947 Constitution of the Republic of China...
(Taiwan) from 2000 to 2008, under Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the 10th and 11th-term President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan...
. She announced her intentions to run for President of Taiwan on March 6, 2007, but withdrew in order to support DPP presidential nominee, Frank Hsieh
Frank Hsieh
Frank Hsieh Chang-ting is a Taiwanese politician of the Democratic Progressive Party in the Republic of China. He was the mayor of Kaohsiung City until his appointment as President of the Executive Yuan by president Chen Shui-bian on February 1, 2005. He announced his resignation from the post of...
. Lu announced on February 25, 2011, that she would seek the DPP nomination for President of the Republic of China
President of the Republic of China
The President of the Republic of China is the head of state and commander-in-chief of the Republic of China . The Republic of China was founded on January 1, 1912, to govern all of China...
in 2012
Republic of China presidential election, 2012
The election for the 13th-term President and Vice-President of the Republic of China will be held in the Free Area of the Republic of China on January 14, 2012. The election will be held together with legislative elections...
, but later withdrew her bid. Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ing-wen
Tsai Ing-wen is the current chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan. Studying in Taiwan, the U.S and the U.K. Tsai earned an LL.B. from National Taiwan University, an LL.M. from Cornell University Law School and a Ph.D. from the London School of Economics....
, chairwoman of the DPP, finally won the nomination. Lu is a member of the Democratic Progressive Party
Democratic Progressive Party
The Democratic Progressive Party is a political party in Taiwan, and the dominant party in the Pan-Green Coalition. Founded in 1986, DPP is the first meaningful opposition party in Taiwan. It has traditionally been associated with strong advocacy of human rights and a distinct Taiwanese identity,...
and one of Taiwan's independence advocates. Lu is also a prominent feminist activist.
Early life
Lu was born in Taoyuan CountyTaoyuan County (Taiwan)
Taoyuan County is a county of the Republic of China , located in the northwestern part of the island, contiguous with New Taipei City, Hsinchu County, and Yilan County. Taoyuan City is located in this county and serves as the seat of Taoyuan County...
, in northern Taiwan, during Japanese rule
Taiwan under Japanese rule
Between 1895 and 1945, Taiwan was a dependency of the Empire of Japan. The expansion into Taiwan was a part of Imperial Japan's general policy of southward expansion during the late 19th century....
. After graduating from Taipei First Girls' High School
Taipei First Girls' High School
Taipei First Girls' High School is a prestigious Taiwanese high school, located in Zhongzheng District within Taipei City, with only the top 1% of scorers on the Basic Competence Test for Junior High School Students receiving admission.- Overview :The school was founded in 1904 and named as...
, she studied law at the National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University
National Taiwan University is a national co-educational university located in Taipei, Republic of China . In Taiwan, it is colloquially known as "Táidà" . Its main campus is set upon 1,086,167 square meters in Taipei's Da'an District. In addition, the university has 6 other campuses in Taiwan,...
. Graduating in 1967, she went on to gain a master's degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
and another degree from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
.
Rise in politics
During the 1970s Lu established herself as a prominent feminist advocate in Taiwan, which included writing of New Feminism or Xin Nüxing Zhuyi . She renounced her prior KMT membership, also joined the TangwaiTangwai
The Tangwai movement was a political movement in the Republic of China in the mid-1970s and early 1980s. Although the Kuomintang had allowed contested elections for a small number of seats in Legislative Yuan, opposition parties were still forbidden...
movement, and worked on the staff of Formosa Magazine. Lu then became increasingly active in the tang-wai, the opposition movement calling for democracy and an end to authoritarian rule. In 1979 she delivered a 20-minute speech criticizing the government at an International Human Rights Day rally that later became known as the "Kaohsiung Incident." Following this rally, virtually the entire leadership of Taiwan's democracy movement, including Lu, was imprisoned. She was tried, found guilty of violent sedition, and sentenced by a military court to 12 years in prison. She was named by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience, and partly due to international pressure was released in 1985, after approximately five-and-a-half years in jail.
Due to the male-dominated culture and combative nature of Taiwan politics, Lu, like several other female politicians subsequently, was nicknamed a "small chili pepper
Chili pepper
Chili pepper is the fruit of plants from the genus Capsicum, members of the nightshade family, Solanaceae. The term in British English and in Australia, New Zealand, India, Malaysia and other Asian countries is just chilli without pepper.Chili peppers originated in the Americas...
." She was elected to the Legislative Yuan
Legislative Yuan
The Legislative Yuan is the unicameral legislature of the Republic of China .The Legislative Yuan is one of the five branches of government stipulated by the Constitution of the Republic of China, which follows Sun Yat-sen's Three Principles of the People...
in 1993. In 1997 she won an election to be a magistrate
Magistrate
A magistrate is an officer of the state; in modern usage the term usually refers to a judge or prosecutor. This was not always the case; in ancient Rome, a magistratus was one of the highest government officers and possessed both judicial and executive powers. Today, in common law systems, a...
in Taoyuan
Taoyuan City
Taoyuan City is the county seat of Taoyuan County in Taiwan, located in the northwestern part of the island. Taoyuan city is the gateway of Taiwan: with the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in vicinity, and is a 30-minute ride to the capital, Taipei....
.
Novel
Lu completed her novel entitled "These Three Women" while in prison. To evade the surveillance of the detention facility, she wrote part of the novel on toilet paper using washbasin as a desk. In 2008, the novel was adapted into a screenplay for TV drama of the same name. The drama was broadcast on November 24, 2008 on the Chinese Television System.Vice Presidency, 2000 –2008
On March 18, 2000, Lu was electedROC presidential election, 2000
The Election for the 10th-term President and Vice-President of the Republic of China , the second ever direct elections for President and Vice President of the Republic of China on Taiwan and the 10th under the 1947 Constitution, were held on March 18, 2000...
Vice President. She was awarded the World Peace Corps Mission
World Peace Corps Mission
World Peace Corps Mission is an international missionary organization established since 1989. It is co-founded by late Hon. Robert L. Leggett and Dr. Han Min Su, and operates under the principles of inter-religious collaboration, and in the spirit of altruism and world peace.Hon. Robert L. Leggett...
's World Peace Prize
World Peace Prize
-Mission:World Peace Prize is an initiative to promote world peace and inter-religious understanding. The Prize is awarded periodically to individuals who have contributed to the causes of world peace by preventing regional conflicts or world war; by settling the disputes of political, diplomatic...
in 2001. Controversy erupted over this in Taiwan, with Lu's political opponents accusing her of vastly overstating the significance and value of that award. She was also the ROC's first elected vice president to adopt a Western first name.In her interview with TIME Asia Magazine,Lu said that the KMT never thought that they will transfer their regime to her on behalf of the freedom fighters.
In the months leading to the ROC presidential election, 2004
ROC presidential election, 2004
The Election for the 11th-term President and Vice-President of the Republic of China , the third direct presidential election in Taiwan's history and the 11th presidential election overall under the 1947 Chinese Constitution, was held on March 20, 2004...
there was intense speculation as to whether she would be again chosen Chen's running mate, as party leaders had pressured him to choose someone else, presumably less controversial and outspoken to appeal to voters. But on December 11, 2003, Chen officially nominated Lu to run for a second term as he could not find a suitable partner.And he said that he respects Lu's academic background and probably she is the only one who is suitable to be Chen's running mate.
Lu was a contender for the 2008 presidential election
ROC presidential election, 2008
The election for the 12th-term President and Vice-President of the Republic of China was held in the Republic of China on Saturday, March 22, 2008. Kuomintang nominee Ma Ying-jeou won with 58% of the vote, ending eight years of Democratic Progressive Party rule...
; she announced her candidacy on March 6 and faced Yu Shyi-Kun
Yu Shyi-kun
Yu Shyi-kun , a Taiwanese politician of the Democratic Progressive Party, is a former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan. He previously served as Premier of the Republic of China from 2002 to 2005...
(former DPP chairman and executive premier), Frank Hsieh
Frank Hsieh
Frank Hsieh Chang-ting is a Taiwanese politician of the Democratic Progressive Party in the Republic of China. He was the mayor of Kaohsiung City until his appointment as President of the Executive Yuan by president Chen Shui-bian on February 1, 2005. He announced his resignation from the post of...
(former DPP chairman, former premier, former Kaohsiung mayor), and Su Tseng-Chang
Su Tseng-chang
Su Tseng-chang is a Taiwanese politician of the Democratic Progressive Party. He is the former Premier of the Republic of China. Su actively campaigned for the Presidential nomination of the DPP, but finished second to Frank Hsieh in the nomination process...
(former DPP chair, former premier) for the nomination.
After receiving only 6.16% of the votes cast in the DPP primary, Vice President Lu withdrew from the race.
Assassination attempt
On March 19, 2004, Lu was shot in the right kneecap during a campaign trip to Tainan. Chen was shot in the abdomen at the same event. Both survived the shooting and left Chi-mei Hospital on the same day. The Pan-Blue CoalitionPan-Blue Coalition
The Pan-Blue Coalition 泛藍聯盟 or Pan-Blue Force is a political alliance in the Republic of China , consisting of the Kuomintang , the People First Party , and the New Party . The name comes from the party colours of the Kuomintang...
suggested that the shooting was not an assassination attempt but that it was staged to a self-inflicted wound in order to gain sympathy votes. The Chen/Lu ticket won the election on the following day with a 0.228% margin, a figure significant to those who related it the assassination incident.
After the election, she continued to make statements which contributed to a public impression that she was too conversational and tactless. In a June 2004 meeting with expatriates in San Francisco, she proposed to officially rename her country "Taiwan Republic of China" to pacify domestic disputes over Taiwan's identity. However, this drew heat from both sides, ranging from those who wanted to drop the "Republic of China" completely and those who pointed out that her proposal violated the Five Noes
Four Noes and One Without
The Four Noes and One Without , also known as the Four Noes was a pledge by former President of the Republic of China Chen Shui-bian made in his inauguration speech on 20 May 2000 concerning the political status of Taiwan...
. Lu was careful to state that this was just her personal opinion and not an official proposal. She drew more controversy after flooding in Taiwan, in which she made statements which were portrayed as an attack on Taiwanese aborigines
Taiwanese aborigines
Taiwanese aborigines is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Although Taiwanese indigenous groups hold a variety of creation myths, recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han...
for living in flood prone areas.
Political positions
Lu has been more outspoken in favor of Taiwan independenceTaiwan independence
Taiwan independence is a political movement whose goals are primarily to formally establish the Republic of Taiwan by renaming or replacing the Republic of China , form a Taiwanese national identity, reject unification and One country, two systems with the People's Republic of China and a Chinese...
than President Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian
Chen Shui-bian is a former Taiwanese politician who was the 10th and 11th-term President of the Republic of China from 2000 to 2008. Chen, whose Democratic Progressive Party has traditionally been supportive of Taiwan independence, ended more than fifty years of Kuomintang rule in Taiwan...
, and as such has been more heavily attacked than Chen both by the government of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
as well as by supporters of Chinese reunification
Chinese reunification
Chinese reunification refers to the bringing together of all of the territories controlled by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China under a single political entity...
.
She often appears at odds with Chen, particularly with regard to cross-Strait policy
Political status of Taiwan
The controversy regarding the political status of Taiwan hinges on whether Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen, and Matsu should remain effectively independent as territory of the Republic of China , become unified with the territories now governed by the People's Republic of China , or formally declare...
. While Chen initially sent conciliatory signals, Lu consistently made inflammatory comments to the media. Her confrontational remarks have led state newspapers in mainland China to accuse her of provoking "animosity between the people on both sides of the Taiwan Straits". PRC state media has also labeled Lu as "insane" and a "scum of the earth.
In 2010 Lu visited South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
and advocated Taiwan's use of what she called "soft power
Soft power
Soft power is the ability to obtain what one wants through co-option and attraction. It can be contrasted with 'hard power', that is the use of coercion and payment...
," meaning peaceful economic and political development, as a model for the resolution of international conflicts.
Alleged charges
On September 21, 2007, Vice President Lu was indicted on charges of corruption by the Supreme Prosecutor's Office of Taiwan. Lu faces charges of embezzlement and of using false receipts to write-off expenses totalling over US$165,000 from a special governmental account. Yu Shyi-KunYu Shyi-kun
Yu Shyi-kun , a Taiwanese politician of the Democratic Progressive Party, is a former chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan. He previously served as Premier of the Republic of China from 2002 to 2005...
was also indicted on the same day and immediately resigned his chairmanship of the Democratic Progressive Party, he promised he would resign if indicted. On the same day, DPP member and National Security Office Secretary-General Mark Chen
Mark Chen
Mark Chen Tang-shan , born September 16, 1935, in Tainan County , Taiwan, is a Taiwanese politician, former Secretary-General of the Office of the President of the Republic of China under ex-President Chen Shui-bian. He was also previously Foreign Minister of the ROC from 2004 to 2006...
was also indicted on corruption charges. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/21/AR2007092102110.html
External links
- Vice President Lu's Remarks of Appreciation for the 2001 World Peace Prize
- Government Information Office of the Republic of China, Official Biography 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006