"I am more than seventy years old. Having lived under different regimes, from Japanese colonialism to Taiwan’s recovery, I have greatly experienced the miseries of the Taiwanese people. In the period of Japanese colonialism, a Taiwanese would be punished by being forced to kneel out in the sun for speaking Tai-yü. The situation was the same when Taiwan was recovered: my son, Hsien-wen, and my daughter-in-law, Yüeh-yün, often wore a dunce board around their necks in the school as punishment for speaking Tai-yü... [Taiwanese peoples’] lives are influenced by history. I think the most miserable people are Taiwanese, who have always tried in vain to get their heads above the water. This was the Taiwanese situation during the period of colonialism; it was not any different after Taiwan’s recovery [that is, the rule of the Chiang-era KMT]. I have deep feelings about this."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Chairpersons of KuomintangMayors of Taipei CityPresidents of the Republic of China on TaiwanVice Presidents of the Republic of China on TaiwanGovernors of Taiwan Province
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chung-yang jih-pao (Central Daily News), International Edition, 1994-04-16), as quoted in Hsiau, A-chin, "Language Ideology in Taiwan: The KMT’s language policy, the Tai-yü language movement, and ethnic politics," Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (1997), 18.4, p. 302
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Lee_Teng-hui
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Lee Teng-hui
Lee Teng-hui (Simplified Chinese: 李登辉; Traditional Chinese: 李登輝; Pinyin:Lǐ Dēnghuī; 15 January 1923 – 30 July 2020) was a politician from Taiwan. He was the President of Taiwan and Chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 1988 to 2000. His tenure was marked with major extensions to the democratic reforms initiated by Chiang Ching-kuo. He also promoted the Taiwan localization movement and led an aggressive foreign policy to gain diplomatic allies. His critics accused him of black gold politics and b
2 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Lee Teng-hui →
Related Quotes
"Don't think that because many Taiwanese came from China, Taiwan is a part of China."
"Asia is an issue for the world. The issue with Asia is China. China’s problem is the existence of the Chinese Communi…"
"The fierce conflict confronting us will decide our fate - whether it is to be "glory or humiliation, freedom or slavery."
"We must make use of every minute, value every unit of our material power and pool the wisdom and talent of all so tha…"
"We must enlarge political participation, safeguard freedom and human rights, and assure that democracy and freedom ar…"
"We can say positively and clearly that the Republic of China will never change its determination to remain in the dem…"