A Taiwanese century

Thursday, 6 October 2011 — National Day celebrations for the Republic of China (Taiwan), RACV Club, Melbourne

I am delighted to join with so many members of the Taiwanese Diaspora, and other distinguished friends of Taiwan to celebrate the 100th National Day of the Republic of China on Taiwan.

The Republic of China became Asia’s first republic on October 10, 1911 as the result of the efforts of its founding father Dr. Sun Yat-sen and his colleagues. The early decades were turbulent, but 1947 saw the promulgation of the Constitution, which mandates a government of the people, by the people and for the people—the fundamental principles of democracy.

After the government relocated to Taiwan in 1949, policies such as the land reforms of the 1950s and the Ten Major Construction Projects of the 1970s led to the island’s “economic miracle,” which transformed an agrarian economy into one based on services and knowledge. The development of democracy and social rights accelerated when martial law ended in 1987, resulting in the lifting of bans on new political parties and newspapers. The next steps came when the Republic of China’s first direct presidential election was held in 1996 and the first transfer of power from the ruling party to an opposition party occurred peacefully in 2000.

As the modern historian, Jacob Talmon, wrote, there are two types of governmental structure in the world today that claim to be democracies. He described the version which Taiwan has embraced as a liberal democracy. “The liberal approach assumes politics to be a matter of trial and error, and regards political systems as pragmatic contrivances of human ingenuity and spontaneity,” wrote Talmon. “It also recognises a variety of levels of personal and collective endeavour, which are altogether outside the sphere of politics.”

This too is evident in the thriving modern Taiwan. One example is Taiwan’s philanthropic spirit , which can be seen in the donation of more than US$196.6 million—more than any other country in the world—by the Taiwanese government and private individuals to victims of the devastating earthquake and tsunami this year in Japan.

The other structure, which Talmon described as totalitarian democracy, is based on the assumption of a sole and exclusive truth in politics. It is a course that Taiwan has rejected.

As citizens of a liberal democracy, Australians can take pride in the Taiwanese achievements. Like us, citizens of Taiwan now enjoy a vibrant multiparty democracy, a resilient economy and full freedom of speech, as well as comprehensive social welfare and human rights safeguards.

This is truly a centenary worth celebrating.