Premiers of the Republic of China on Taiwan

"It is my greatest wish, that German-Chinese cooperation always be supported by accomplishment, and that the personal affinity between both countries always be as strong as it is today. You, Herr Reichskanzler, have already given expression to this thought in that you had the honorary sword of the German Reich given to me. I take it as a symbol of soldierly loyalty and as a true sign of the friendly relationship of our countries."

"When I was young, I did not try my best to learn how to conduct myself. As a result I have not done anything good for my parents and I do not know how to be kind to my children. I regret that....I miss Ching-kuo very much. I am bad because I am not taking good care of him. I am sorry about that....Madame Sun wanted me to release Naulen [a detained Polish Communist charged with running the CCP's regional bureaus from Shanghai] in return for the repatriation of Ching-kuo, [but] I would rather let Ching-kuo be exiled or killed in Soviet Russia than exchange a criminal for him. God decides whether you will have an heir and whether your nation will be subjugated. How dare I do anything about it. What I want is not to violate the law, betray my country, harm the reputation of my parents, or waste my life. It is not worth it to sacrifice the interests of the country for the sake of my son."

"I deeply wish that my son could come back. However...I would rather have no offspring than sacrifice our nation's interests."

"How would I differ from the Communists...if I were to imitate the so-called fascists . . . of Italy?"

"If we do not weed the present body of corruption, bribery, perfunctoriness, and ignorance, and establish instead a clean and efficient administration, the day will soon come when the revolution will be started against us."

"Which are you, my subordinate or my enemy? If my subordinate, you should obey my orders. If you are my enemy you should kill me without delay. You should choose either of these two steps, but say nothing more for I will not listen to you...My head may be cut off, my body may be mutilated, but I must preserve the honour of the Chinese people, and must uphold law and order....If I allow the honour of the 400,000,000 people whom I represent to be degraded by accepting any demands to save my own life, we should lose our national existence....Why don't you kill me now?"

"Let our people realize to the full the meaning of 'the limit of endurance,' and the extent of sacrifice implied. For once that stage is reached, we can only sacrifice and fight to the bitter end."

"Thinking about the people I admire in this life, you, my lady, are the only one...recalling the hundred battles fought on the front and my own type of heroism, I cannot but feel that so-called achievement is just an illusion or a dream. And yet, my lady, your talent, beauty and virtue are not things I can ever forget. The only question is: what does my lady think of this retired soldier who has been abandoned by the whole world?"

"We must unite to exterminate these Japanese bandits, before we can be safe."

"Mao is a strange man whose personality is like the Tao, sometimes yin and sometimes yang; he has a soft-as-cotton outer layer, but at the same time has sharp needles hiding inside... I do not think he will achieve anything, in the end, he will be crushed inside my palm."

"The Japanese are a disease of the skin, the Communists are a disease of the heart."

"If and when the war starts, no matter where or whoever you are or if you are young or old, Northerner or Southerner, you all have the responsibility of protecting our home and repelling the enemy, you all must have the will to achieve ultimate sacrifice."

"We must use every inch of our blood to take back every inch of our land, you ten thousand youths and soldiers."

"The sky cannot have two suns."

"These Japanese troops slaughtered every man, woman and child in those areas — let me repeat — these Japanese troops slaughtered every man, woman and child in those areas."

"Right will triumph over might-this great truth which we never once doubted has been finally vindicated. Our faith in justice through black and hopeless days and eight long years of struggle has today been rewarded. The historical mission of our National Revolution has at last been fulfilled....We have won the victory. But it is not yet the final victory. The universal power of righteousness has not simply achieved one more triumph. We and the people of all the world fervently hope that this war may be the last war in which civilized nations engage. Permanent world peace can be established only upon the basis of democratic freedom and equality and the brotherly co-operation of all nations and races. We must march forward on the great road of democracy and unity and give our collective support to the ideals of lasting peace. I urge all of our friends of the Allied nations and all my own countrymen to face the fact that the peace we have gained by arms is not necessarily the beginning of permanent peace. Only if our enemies are conquered on the battleground of reason, only if they repent thoroughly of their folly and become lovers of world peace like ourselves, can we hope to satisfy the yearning for peace and achieve the final goal of the great war that has just ended"

"We have...repeatedly declared that we were only opposed to the Japanese militarists and harbored no enmity for the Japanese people.... While we must insist on the strict compliance with the term of the surrender, we must not look forward to retaliation, and much less shall we impose insults on the innocent civilians. We can only sympathize with their plight—coerced and misled as they have been by their Fascist and Nazi leaders, and hope that they will repent of their mistake and sins. If, on the other hand, we attempt to retaliate with atrocity for the past atrocities of the enemy, and repay with insult their mistaken superiority complex in the past, then the spirit of revenge shall be interminably perpetuated—a development far from the intentions of our righteousness-loving Army."

"Seeing the Republic of China on the verge of death, I am moving ahead with tears in my eyes. There is only one road ahead, but it is torturous. Don’t fear. The road has been blazed with blood by our revolutionary forefathers. We must move forward today – forward, never retreat. Around us is darkness; ahead of us are dangers. With a ray of hope and my allegiance to Dr. Sun Yat-sen, I will continue my struggle without fail."

"If when I die, I am still a dictator, I will certainly go down into the oblivion of all dictators. If, on the other hand, I succeed in establishing a truly stable foundation for a democratic government, I will live forever in every home in China."

"As long as we have Taiwan, the Communists can never win."

"Your Excellency, the American people share your abiding faith in the ultimate triumph of justice over evil. We look confidently toward the day when the great people of China will again take their place in the struggle for those principles of freedom and progress espoused by Dr. Sun Yat-Sen."

"The only world leader who sympathised with Indian aspirations at that time was Chiang Kai-shek of China whom Pandit Nehru had denounced as a reactionary tool of Western imperialism only a few years earlier."

"You and I are men of history / No little men chattering about minor affairs! / Go, let go, my honoured friend / Do not look back."

"You have to treat every day as the last day of your appointment, regardless of how long you are going to serve."

"Ask not how long the term you will serve, but ask what meaningful things you will do during your tenure."

"We will not change what we have already announced to the public (regarding minimum wage hike). This is something that the workers have been waiting many months for, and the government should respect the efforts they put into their daily duties."

"Many government officials have very high moral standards at the beginning of their duties, but after a while some officials sway from the right path and easily fall into the temptation of bribery and fraud."

"The then-Japanese empire suppressed the people of the Republic of China and took over the authority against our will, and so ‘Japanese occupation’ should be a proper term to describe the period."

"If the government does not adjust the electricity rate, then even God could not operate Taipower."

"A democratic country has zero tolerance for all illegal monitoring operations."

"Where there is the will, we can make it."

"The relationship between Scotland and the United Kingdom and that between the ROC-Taiwan and (Mainland) China are totally different. The ROC is an independent country, so the question of announcing independence via referendum is simply a nonstarter. Any kind of referendum that aims to change the status quo would be unwise. Keeping the ROC on Taiwan as an independent, sovereign state is our topmost priority. Any idea diverging from this would be at odds with the Constitution and against our citizens’ interests."

"A country cannot solely rely on the government and opposition parties to solve all of the problems."

"There is no timeline for future political negotiations, but both of us (Taiwan and Mainland China) must develop and accumulate enough friendship and mutual trust."

"Both sides (Taiwan and Mainland China) are so lovely and so many of their people are behaving like heroes and heroines, and yet Taiwan's former ambition to 'recover the mainland' has become a thing of the past."

"Let's put all this (cross-strait conflict) aside. The best choice for both sides (Taiwan and Mainland China) at this moment is peace."

"We should rebuild a just and harmonious society, where amicability exists between labor and capital, the younger and older generations, men and women, as well as concerned parties in the recent debates about legalizing same-sex marriage."

"With hindered communication across the strait, I will lead the (Kuomintang) party to take on the responsibility to protect and ensure the personal well-being, rights, social and economic exchange, and cultural transmission for people on both sides (Taiwan and Mainland China)."

"Of course, we are against Taiwan's independence, but we don't think right now is the time to talk about reunification (with Mainland China)."

"The two sides of the Taiwan Strait, based on the 'one China' principle, agreed that either side can freely interpret what 'one China' means in a verbal form. This means that the mainland can claim that the People's Republic of China represents all of China, while we can also claim that the Republic of China represents the whole of China."

"If the Kuomintang has the opportunity to rule (Taiwan) again, then we would have met the conditions stipulated by the (Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area) law. Assuming talks between the two sides (Taiwan and Mainland China) are successful, a Kuomintang government would be within its rights to sign a cross-strait peace treaty."

"No matter what we choose, our unwavering stance is to enhance the safety of nuclear power generation in the country."

"Many Taiwanese people have been interacting and associating with the Chinese for a long period of time, so their perspectives can be very valuable when addressing issues concerning Mainland China. We should view Mainland China from the perspective of Taiwan as a whole, instead of only from the DPP's point of view."

"Democracy and security do not fall from heaven — they come with a cost."

"The DPP is committed to its responsibilities for the future of Taiwan, is willing to reconcile through dialogue as a means of normalizing Cross-Strait relations, and desires to be a responsible partner of fellow democracies in the Asia-Pacific."

"The DPP will engage (mainland) China with a positive attitude and confidence, hoping to foster constructive and well-intentioned dialogues, while maintaining the party's values and basic positions. Unfortunately, (mainland) China remains stubborn and has always tried to coerce Taiwan into a framework defined by nobody but China."

"If Taiwan can establish a democracy, so can you (Mainland China)."

"Everybody is born as a mother’s child. When a person does not respect life, but only uses death tolls (number of 228 massacre 20,000 victims) to measure how big a historical tragedy was, how then are we to conduct a dialogue with a person like this?"

"(Mainland) China today is like the Chinese Nationalist Party when I first entered politics (in the 1970s), when it tried to control Taiwan through martial law. Today, (Taiwan) society is entirely liberal and we have managed to come this far."

"Taiwan cannot sign such an (peace) agreement (with Mainland China)."

"Once the investigation into the (Nanfang'ao Bridge) collapse is complete, anyone found to bear responsibility for the incident would be strictly punished."

"Kneeling before (mainland) China and begging for mercy would not make Taiwan better."

"Taiwan is a free, democratic and liberal nation, so the government would not issue a mask ban, but the government would not tolerate masked thugs, such as the man who tossed red paint on Hong Kong singer and rights advocate Denise Ho on the sidelines of a rally last month."

"As the premier, I hold the highest executive responsibilities in the country. Seeing the suffering and even death of our people (due to COVID-19 pandemic), when we have not taken care of them as well as we can, I am sorry."

"As long as there is equality, reciprocity and no political preconditions, we (Taiwan) are willing to engage in goodwill with (mainland) China. As for China's harassment of Taiwan with military aircraft, warships, unreasonable suppression and political actions, the one being most unreasonable is China. Taiwan does not want to close the door to China. It is China that has used various means to oppress and treat Taiwan unreasonably."

"We (Taiwan and Mainland China) may not share the same history, but we could have a common destiny and future."

"The key to cross-strait peace and stability lay in mutual recognition of the 1992 Consensus."

"The slogans of 'countering back the mainland' created by Chiang Kai-shek and 'liberating Taiwan' by Mao Zedong several decades ago should be forgotten because none of them could be put into practice."

"When people on both sides of the Strait reach a consensus on their political system, unification will come to fruition naturally."

"Taiwanese independence is a dead end."

"Only when three preconditions — all ways (to save energy) have been exhausted, safety is guaranteed and a social consensus reached — would the reactivation of the Jinshan and Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plants be considered."

"We shouldn't push it away. As it is a huge market over there in mainland China, it behooves Taiwan to maintain friendly, smooth economic relations."

"We will adopt low-key and pragmatic measures to establish better economic relations with other countries."

"Although (the one reactor at Kuosheng Nuclear Power Plant) is not considered part of the operating reserve, I would make a formal report to the Legislative Yuan to reactivate it as a last resort in the event of a predictable power shortage. The manufacturing industry should have confidence in the (Taiwan) power supply."

"When coal-fired power generation is a necessity for Taiwan, the Linkou Power Plant, equipped with the most advanced generators and pollution control and abatement systems and burning the types of coal that have the fewest impurities, is the model we look toward."

"I will set a policy goal next year to make Taiwan a bilingual country, with English and Chinese being its official languages."

"Neither the (ROC) central government nor the local governments can shoulder the development of the nation's infrastructure or economy alone. It must be a joint effort."

"The time has come because more and more Taiwanese people have realized that Taiwan needs a new constitution."

"I believe that the peaceful development of cross-strait ties will continue to be deepened and institutionalized."

"One China; peace on both sides of the (Taiwan) Strait; mutually beneficial integration; strive for a Chinese revival."

"Both of our (Mainland China and Taiwan) legal and governance systems were built following the 'one China' structure. That is why Cross-Strait relations are not state-to-state relations and there is no room for Taiwanese independence."

"I hope Han's government will focus on what's right or wrong in a matter, instead of the politics involved in it."