President Ma’s New Year’s Day Message: Building Up Taiwan, Invigorating Chinese Heritage

President Ma’s New Year’s Day Message: Building Up Taiwan, Invigorating Chinese Heritage

Sources: All Taipei newspapers

January 3, 2011

On January 1, the Founding Anniversary of the Republic of China as she entered her 100^th year, President Ma Ying-jeou delivered a New Year’s Day Message titled “Building up Taiwan, Invigorating Chinese Heritage.” In the message, President Ma discussed his policy map to implement Taiwan’s “Golden Age” over the next decade, and expressed his hope to make the Republic of China “a nation that is both respected by and inspiring to people around the world.”

Vis-à-vis cross-Strait relations, President Ma called for “lasting peace,” and stated, “As both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a common ancestry dating back to legendary emperors Yen and Huang, we should enhance mutual understanding via in-depth exchanges. Guided by the wisdom of our common ethnic Chinese culture, we can surely work out a very satisfactory solution.”

A public flag-raising ceremony was held in front of the Presidential Palace at 6:30 a.m., and government officials attended the celebration of the ROC Founding Anniversary with tens of thousands of the general public, including President Ma and First Lady Chou Mei-ching, Vice President Vincent Siew, and Premier Wu Den-yih. However, DPP chairperson Tsai Ing-wen did not show up. A Presidential Office spokesperson stated, “We issued an invitation, but did not receive a reply.”

Later that day, at 9:00 a.m., at a ceremony in celebration of the founding of the ROC in the Presidential Palace, President Ma delivered his New Year’s Day Message. President Ma began by recalling the revolution, led by ROC Founding Father Dr. Sun Yat-sen, which overthrew the Ching Dynasty and founded the Republic of China the first republic in Asia. President Ma then moved on to recount the collective memories and experiences of the people on Taiwan, mapping out his policies for the “Golden Age” over the next decade which would be the basis of strength for the next prosperous century of the ROC. President Ma ended with the words “Compatriots must unite, for in unity there is great strength,” calling on the people of Taiwan to join hands to build the next flourishing century. President Ma was quoting Jiang Wei-shui (1891－1931), a towering figure who advocated a non-violent movement against Japanese colonial rule in Taiwan. Jiang Wei-shui became a member of the Taiwan chapter of the Chinese Revolutionary Alliance, founded by Dr. Sun Yat-sen, Founding Father of the Republic of China, to show his support for the revolution. He had even wired a telegram to the League of Nations to denounce Japanese intervention in ROC unification.

In addition, President Ma also proposed “Four Grand Hopes,” i.e., the ROC as “the standard-bearer at the leading edge of Chinese culture,” “serving as a paragon of democracy for the Chinese-speaking world,” “becoming a global innovation center,” and “becoming a nation the world will respect and an inspiration to many.”

Presidential staff explained that the fact that the New Year’s Day Message began by mentioning the Founding Father and ended with a quote by Jiang Wei-shui clearly signified historical continuity.

For viewers who are interested in the full text in English, please go to the Presidential Palace’s website:

http://english.president.gov.tw/Default.aspx?tabid=491&itemid=23186&rmid=2355

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