By my reckoning, today marks the 10th anniversary of Taiwan’s democracy. On 20th May 1996 Lee Teng-hui gave this speech at his inauguration. The election (two months previously) was the first time that Taiwan’s president had been democratically elected. Of course, there was some democracy before this – there had been increasingly democratic elections for the legislature and the national assembly in the years before it, but this marked the final point when Taiwan could finally call itself a democratic country.

Lee’s speech is hardly a classic, but there’s one interesting aspect that runs through the speech. Number of times China/Chinese mentioned: 44. Numer of times Taiwan mentioned: 21. His emphasis on the election being a victory for Chinese people, his explicit dismissal of Taiwan independence and his focus on China make for interesting reading given what we now know (and many people suspected back then) about his real feelings on the issue. The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
Note: I’m on holiday for 3 weeks from today, so things will be quiet here for a while.