On March 29, the TKU Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies held a forum that explored Taiwan’s path to democracy. The keynote speaker at the forum was the former Vice President of Taiwan, Annette Lu. Her presence drew a host of reporters from major TV stations, such as EBC, SET, and Apple Daily.

The response from students was equally enthusiastic: an unprecedented amount of students from other universities flocked to the TKU Tamsui Campus to hear the keynote speech. The Chair of the TKU Graduate Institute of International Affairs and Strategic Studies, Dr. Wong Ming-Hsien, said that “given the recent and ongoing attempts to achieve democracy in North Africa, the Middle East, and Libya, we invited the former vice-president to talk about the path Taiwan took to attain democracy”.

During her speech, former vice president Lu talked about the incident that sparked the push toward democracy, and shared her experiences as an ambassador for Taiwanese democracy in recent decades. She encouraged students to read more, especially on topics outside of those taught in their university courses, as a way of enhancing students’ ability to think independently.

During the Q&A component of the speech, TKU international student and PhD candidate, Tatiana Komarova, enquired about Taiwan’s current “soft power” policy. Former Vice President Lu provided a detailed explanation of the policy, which aims to promote Taiwan internationally by emphasizing Taiwan’s “softer” elements: human rights, democracy, peace, high-technology, and culture.

Prior to delivering the speech, the former vice president had a look around the stalls that had been set up at the Tamsui Campus’ “Poster Lane” as part of the 2011 Northern Taipei Universities Charity Fundraiser. She even took out her purse and bought two packets of corn flour. The president of the TKU Business and Management Association, Lin Jia Xuan, said that “The former vice president’s visit to our fundraising event was not only a vote of encouragement for the fundraiser, but also helped to lift everyone’s spirits.”