Lee Teng-hui, Former President(1923-)  

 President Lee Teng-hui was born on January 15, 1923, at Sanchih, a rural community on the outskirts of Taipei. After graduating from Taipei High School, he was admitted into Kyoto Imperial University in Japan, becoming one of a very limited number of Chinese allowed to receive higher education during the Japanese occupation of Taiwan (1895-1945). After the war, he returned home to continue his studies at National Taiwan University (NTU), majoring in agricultural economics. In 1951, Lee received a scholarship to study agricultural economics at Iowa State University in the United States. He returned to Taiwan with a master's degree to work with the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Forestry while teaching part-time at NTU.

In 1957, Lee transferred to the Chinese-American Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction (JCRR). In 1970, he was appointed chief of its Rural Economies Division. During his JCRR years, he made significant contributions to farmers' associations, irrigation systems, warehousing, rural health, and farm mechanization.

Lee served as a part-time professor of economics at NTU and at the Graduate School of East Asian Studies of National Chengchi University in Taipei between 1958 and 1978, except for three years when he went on leave to pursue advanced studies at Cornell University and received his Ph.D. in agricultural economics in 1968. His thesis, Intersectoral Capital Flows in the Economic Development of Taiwan, was cited as the best doctoral dissertation by the American Association for Agricultural Economics in 1969.

When appointed a minister without portfolio in 1972 by Premier Chiang Ching-kuo, Lee was the youngest person ever to hold such an office up until then. During his tenure, Lee was charged with completing a Five-Year Vocational Training Program, which ensured an adequate supply of trained manpower to meet the growing needs of industrialization. He was also instrumental in the writing of the Act for Agricultural Development. Meanwhile, he was responsible for coordinating the related efforts to develop this country's petrochemical industry as part of the Ten Major Construction Projects launched by the government in the 1970s.

As mayor of Taipei (1978-81), Lee improved administrative efficiency by expanding office automation and streamlining management procedures. He also initiated an annual music festival in 1979, setting a precedent for large-scale cultural activities sponsored by the government. During his administration, Lee presided over the completion of such major projects as the Feitsui Dam (a major water source for the city), expressways, relocation of factories to the countryside, and a modernized sewerage system, which greatly upgraded the quality of life.

As governor of Taiwan Province (1981-84), Lee concentrated on introducing regional planning techniques and a balanced development of urban and rural areas. Drawing on his expertise as an agricultural economist, he promoted rice crop substitution and greatly improved produce marketing, ensuring a significant enhancement in the life of rural people.

After Lee was elected vice president in 1984, he assisted the late President Chiang Ching-kuo in engineering various political and economic reforms. Besides, he visited South Africa, Paraguay, Uruguay, Costa Rica, Panama and Guatemala, making notable contributions in the area of foreign relations.

On the sudden death of President Chiang Ching-kuo on January 13, 1988, Lee became President and completed the remainder of Chiang's term in accordance with the ROC Constitution. His two years in office greatly impressed the people with his able leadership. On March 21, 1990, Lee was elected in his own right by the National Assembly as the eighth-term president of the Republic of China.

To continue the late President's commitment to the nation, President Lee pushed forward various democratic reforms. He convened a National Affairs Conference in July 1990 as a forum for building up consensus on constitutional reform. Then the members of the parliament who had been in office for over four decades were retired to make way for new elections. Later on, he proclaimed the end of the Period of National Mobilization for Suppression of the Communist Rebellion, and repealed the Temporary Provisions Effective During the Period of Communist Rebellion based upon amendments to the Constitution. Constitutional democracy was back on track in the Republic of China. Besides, he presided over the passage of local self-government laws, the enactment of a constitutional amendment that ensured the direct election of the president and vice-president, and the completion of constitutional reform. Such changes realized the ideal of "power lies with the people" and ushered in a new era of freedom and openness in Chinese history.

Under the leadership of President Lee, a comprehensive and forward-looking Six-Year National Development Plan was introduced in 1991 to promote industrial upgrading, balance regional development, and accelerate national modernization. In 1994, the government undertook a mid-term review and identified twelve priority projects like transportation, environmental protection and housing. Meanwhile, to stimulate private investment, the government unveiled in 1993 an Economic Revitalization Program, which has since yielded very fruitful results. In addition, to cope with drastic economic changes both at home and abroad, the ROC government started to implement an "Asia-Pacific Regional Operations Center Plan", aiming to establish Taiwan as a regional center in terms of manufacturing, air transportation, sea transportation, finance, telecommunications and mass media for multinational corporations operating in the Asia-Pacific. This plan is designed to inject new vitality into the economy of Taiwan in its liberalization and internationalization efforts.

Through the pragmatic diplomacy successfully promoted by President Lee, the Republic of China now plays an increasingly active role in the international community. To further expand this country's foreign relations, the President has made quite a number of groundbreaking visits abroad. In February 1994, he visited the Philippines, Indonesia, and Thailand; in May of the same year, he paid an official visit to Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Swaziland and South Africa. In April 1995, he visited the United Arab Emirates and Jordan; and he visited the United States in the following June. These visits expanded high-level contacts and enhanced substantive bilateral relations, thus raising the international profile of this country.

National unification and the relations between Taiwan and the Chinese mainland have also been President Lee's major concern. In 1990, the National Unification Council was established under the Office of the President, and the Guidelines for National Unification was promulgated in the following year to guide Taiwan's mainland policy. In recent years, restrictions on private exchanges across the Taiwan Straits have been further relaxed, resulting in increased unofficial contacts and indirect trade and investment between both sides. President Lee has also expressed his sincere hope that the Chinese people on both sides of the Straits would promote the nationalistic sentiment for living together in prosperity and foster a strong sense of brotherliness, thus ushering in a new era of pride for the Chinese people.

In the light of his outstanding performance in public service, President Lee's alma mater Cornell University in 1990 awarded him its first Outstanding International Alumnus Citation. He was also rated the most outstanding leader in Asia in early 1991 by the Japanese daily Mainichi Shimbun, awarded the International Distinguished Achievement Citation by his alma mater Iowa State University of the United States in 1993, and granted the degree of Doctor of Laws honoris causa by Southern Methodist University of the United States in 1994. Besides, during President Lee's return to Cornell in June 1995, he received from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences the Distinguished Alumni Award.

In 1994, the Second National Assembly adopted the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China. It stipulates that "the President and Vice President shall be directly elected by the entire populace of the free area" of the country and "this shall be effective from the election for the ninth-term President and Vice President in 1996." Driven by a sense of obligation to this country and its people, Lee desired to continue pushing forward a number of reforms and lead the country into a new epoch in democracy. After careful consideration, he decided to run for the ninth-term president. He was nominated by the KMT's 14th National Congress in August 1995. Meanwhile, KMT Vice Chairman Lien Chan became his running mate. On March 23, 1996, the first-ever direct presidential election in the Republic of China took place. The Lee-Lien ticket won a landslide victory, garnering 54 percent of the vote, and they were sworn in as the ninth-term president and vice president of the Republic of China on May 20.

Even at a very young age, Lee showed great interest in literature, history and philosophy, and was especially attracted to Immaunuel Kant and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In recent years, he has been taking time to study Chinese philosophy and promote Confucian humanism. His publications include Agricultural and Economic Development in Taiwan (in Chinese and English), Love and Faith (in Chinese and English), A Collection of Lee Teng-hui's Speeches (in Chinese), and Managing the Great Taiwan (in Chinese).

In 1949 Lee married Tseng Wen-fui, who gave birth to one son and two daughters. The couple are both lovers of the arts and enjoy music and sports. They gave the children an enlightened and democratic education. Happily married, they have deep affection and provide moral support for each other, thanks to their similarity in mind and character.