Taiwan's First Lady speaks out

Politics Taiwan Politics
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In today’s Taipei Times…[quote] “As a [past] member of the legislature, I differ from the first ladies of other countries, as I exercised real power before this role. I was a senator first, then first lady, not like [Hillary Rodham] Clinton, who was first lady first, and then senator. I’m more like a politician rather than a first lady.” [/quote]

And again, in another article…[quote]According to the guide who showed Wu around and pointed out the Declaration of Independence and other memorial features, Wu asked few if any questions.

When the guide at the end of the tour invited Wu to return, Wu shrugged matter-of-factly and said,“Oh, I’ve been here before. I know a lot about it,” the guide told the Taipei Times.[/quote]

Wu might not be wrong, but she is less than gracious. It would be more befitting a First Lady to show some modesty, particularly around someone like Hillary Clinton.

More food for thought from the GIO website:[quote]Although she did not excel in her academic studies, she was certainly distinctive enough to test into university, where she met Chen Shui-bian. This proved to be a turning point in her life.[/quote]
I guess it was a turning point. Remember the back-pedalling several months ago after Chen reminisced about his early courtship with Wu and boasted about writing a thesis paper for her?

Contrast with Hillary Clinton:[quote]As an undergraduate at Wellesley College, Hillary mixed academic excellence with school government. Speaking at graduation, she said, “The challenge now is to practice politics as the art of making what appears to be impossible, possible.”

In 1969, Hillary entered Yale Law School, where she served on the Board of Editors of Yale Law Review and Social Action, interned with children’s advocate Marian Wright Edelman, and met Bill Clinton… …After graduation, Hillary advised the Children’s Defense Fund in Cambridge and joined the impeachment inquiry staff advising the Judiciary Committee of the House of Representatives. After completing those responsibilities, she “followed her heart to Arkansas,” where Bill had begun his political career.

They married in 1975. She joined the faculty of the University of Arkansas Law School in 1975 and the Rose Law Firm in 1976. In 1978, President Jimmy Carter appointed her to the board of the Legal Services Corporation…[/quote]

Back to Wu:[quote]In February 1975, Wu ignored her family’s resistance to her determination to marry Mr. Chen.[/quote]
Nothing more about her accomplishments until 1986:

So her exercise of "real power’ was in fact nothing more than a puppet show. This First Lady needs some modesty.

2

If Wu did not misunderstand the translation of what the guide had said or the guide did not misunderstand the translation of what Wu had replied, then it’s possible Wu just tried to make a joke. Everybody in Taiwan knows she is a joker, but the guide probably doesn’t. I assume this because though Wu is a forthright person of grass-root, she surely knows the international etiquette.

Anyway it’s pointless to make such comparison between Wu and Hillary Clinton. They grew up and were educated in different backgrounds and political environments. And despite her “achievement” not being very evident, Wu was (and is) a very important force to push Chen Shui-bien to insist on his cause in pursuit of democracy and justice back in the time when KMT still dominated Taiwan’s political and economic resources.

I like her for her moral courage.

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The guide wasn’t offering an opinion or implying any motive to what Wu said. He just repeated what was said. I think we can draw our own conclusions. :wink:

You know that, and I know that. It’s too bad Ms. Wu doesn’t know that, as she is the one who first brought up the comparison. :blush:

4

Wu Shu-Chen is indeed well known for her wit and I’m also sure that the remarks were made in jest. It might not have been really prudent to make flip remarks like that, but she is anything but cocky. She also needs no lectures on the US constitution.

Anyway, if the first First Lady to travel to the US since The Wench, Sung Mei-Ling, should forget to go with cap in hand, it’s far better than with cup, as did The Wench…

5

I am new to Taiwan but according to my observation all Taiwanese students study English beginning in Junior High School and on into High School and College/University. Certainly Ms. Wu also participated in this curriculum?

If First-lady Wu has studied English for over ten years, why is it that she cannot speak any English to her hosts in the USA? Might I suggest that a good topic for research (by the Taiwanese media) is to go find First-lady Wu’s former English teachers and interrogate them? I would be interested in their explanation of why someone could study English for over ten years and still not be able to speak it.

If indeed this is a common situation in Taiwan, then might I ask what actions President Chen and First-lady Wu are doing to rectify this situation? If English cannot be properly and effectively taught in the schools, there must be a reason, and there must be accountability.

US President Harry Truman said “The buck stops here.” My question: who takes the responsibility for the poor English teaching methodology in the Taiwanese schools? (I would have to consider it poor because at the most basic level it is ineffective.) It appears that President Chen’s office is not accepting any responsibility. And the First-lady’s lack of English language competence shows that she is less than excited about this issue either.

Curiously, although First-lady Wu tries to give the impression that she is interested in internationalization, her lack of English language skills (which at the most basic level show a lack of interest in the language), reveal that her true mindset is somewhere else. I would suggest that her real aim is more toward the Taiwaneseification of the overseas Chinese lobby, pure and simple.

6

Well, what a royal mess she’s making over there. I must admit that A-Bian does not have a good taste in female companionship. First Annette Lu making a complete fool of herself, now this. :stuck_out_tongue:

While the garbage trucks act as english teachers here and some talk about making English an official language surface once in a while, the fact is that the teaching of the language in general is a joke. Most well-educated yunger Taiwanese have received more English language teaching that I have. I correct them, not the other way around. :wink:

7

So, apart from getting hit by a truck, what are her accomplishments? I’m sorry that she is in a wheelchair, but if she weren’t in a wheelchair, would she still be lauded in the press? It’s like those handicapped artists who paint with their toes and come up with truly awful paintings, yet nobody wants to say anything critical about them. Isn’t that incredibly patronizing? :?:

8

Cut her some slack, guys.

Bush is as stupid as a president, that got elected into office with a minority vote, gets. And he’s still surviving. At least for now. :laughing:

Besides, the Taiwanese are desperate to have a land to call their own. They want to fly their flags at that Mongolian mission and the U.N and all that other stuff that comes with it, even if it means sending the Pre.'s wife around the world in a wheel chair.

If it helps them, hell, more power to them.

She is there helping the cause, or isn’t she? :s

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Maoman, I guess it is possible for someone to compare first lady to first lady like you are doing but I wonder if it is really ever meaningful. The cultural gap between the two first ladies you have chosen is so huge. It is like comparing apples and oranges, they are both fruits but that’s all. The quality one admires in a Chinese women esp since her husband Chan Shui Bian keeps quoting Confucius and what not is entirely in a different ball park to Hilary.

As for the English language, I wonder if any of you noticed the trip by China’s current vice president, soon to be the President replacing Mr Jiang, to England, a Mr Hu JinTao.

I am absolutely sure he is fluent in English and possibly Russian. He is suppose to be a high-flyer with photographic memory. When he arrived in England he was received by various people including the Queen and downwards. He spoke not a single word of English but answers the questions without even waiting for his interpreter to repeat. What’s happening here? Well I was told by the TV commentator that it was a matter of protocol, even if you can speak the other country’s language, as a REPRESENTATIVE of China you should keep to your country language ieChinese. Perhaps something of that is happening with Ms Wu.

Why do foreigners consistently look for the same quality of leadership ie: brashness, assertiveness, outspokeness that they see in western women/men who hold ‘power’? And at the same time they are attracted to Chinese women for the complete reverse -nuren wei- Is it not possible to still possess power without these same qualities. I agree it is not good for TV and sound bites and appearing on David Lettermen show but appearing on SuperSunday require a totally different persona - a sort of like a Chinese aunty which I think she has lots of practice.

I think Chinese women can be divided into three or at the most 4 categories roughly correlated to their age:
i) You have the young naive girl (from 15 teen ) stage which ends around 20 or even in some extreme cases 25. There is much dreaming of men but no actual contact.
ii)Then there is the “you must get married” phase and for the first time in their lives boys/men are important say from age 18 onwards to until they get married. During this phase they are allowed to be sexual beings. In fact Chinese men prefer their women to be foreever at this stage. Sort of somewhat unsure of things, sort of ‘fresh’ and willing to learn and most important she does not challenge his authority or his ‘ego’ in anyway.
iii)Then in this next stage, they are still woman in more sense than the previous stage. They get married and afterwards for several years have sex. In fact this is the stage when Chinese women are most “whole” and assume more responsibility.
iv) Then suddenly people stop calling them xiao jie ( lady/Miss/Ms etc…) They are politely transferred or upgraded to Jie Jie/ Da Jie ( Sister, Big Sister) or even Yi ( Sister in Law, younger sister of your mom or older cousin)
But this is near the end already, This is the dead knell for all or most sexual activities but sisters assume the most responsibility that Chinese women will ever assume particular in the areas designaed for women ( household chores, raising of children etc…). Sisters are asexual beings. They will soon turn into aunts, as their waist line increases, they also stop dieting etc… etc… Men of their same age (35) start turning to girls in stage (ii) They might try to find another guy, if they are still single ( which apparently means they have failed?), but usually by this time they want someone 10 years older so that “he doesn’t mind”.

This is a bit of a digression but I just wanted to show you that Ms Wu is definitely in the the “aunty” stage under my reckoning system and she definitely show all the qualities of a good aunty: soft spoken, receptive, non assertative. If she was mine, she’d be asking if I had food and so on. Very nurturing, non competitive…ie Perfect. Who needs eloquence? or PHDs? Hilary’s dash and go. Make me some soup.

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This is such a stereotype that achievement must be tangible or secular, such as money, power, positions or whatsoever. Women have long been telling men to notice women’s achievements at home and to their families. That may not be written in a resume, but its importance for a family or a society is certainly something we can’t deny. Besides, I think whether a person is worth respecting or not depends on that person’s personal character(

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Well, I think that’s my point. I would never make the comparison between Jiang Zemin’s wife and Hillary, or Li Denghui’s wife and Hillary, or Lian Zhan’s wife and Hillary. Why? Because they wouldn’t have done so. Wu Shuzhen made the comparison first, I just decided to take a closer look and see if the comparison was valid. Obviously it wasn’t. Now, would someone please point that out to Ms. Wu?

She also compared herself to Song Meiling, saying that Song Meiling was the wife of a warlord. Where is the political value in that? It seems to me that Taiwan needs the support of every Huaqiao in America, just like Israel needs the support of every American Jew. With a remark like that, true or not, she only alienates potential supporters of Taiwan’s cause. Wouldn’t a diplomatic statement that unites Huaqiao behind Taiwan rather than divides them have been more constructive?

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An unconscious belief, first described by Alfred Adler, that one is severely inadequate in some particular way. This leads to defensive behaviour and often to an overcompensation, such as open aggressiveness.

The Macmillan Encyclopedia 2001,

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Sometimes this whole friggin island displays the same symptoms.

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hehehehehehe…whatever.

P.S. If Lian Chan were Taiwan’s president, and you guys were criticizing his wife, then my “inferiority complex” wouldn’t come out…hehehehehehehe…

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Plenty of world leaders and their wives speak crap English. It’s not a biggie. I wonder how good we are at speaking a second language anyway.
My French is merde. I don’t blame the UK education system totally - I blame myself for only studying hard enough to pass the tests. Only motivated students end up being able to converse in a second language IMHO. I guess Wu just wasn’t that interested in learning English just as I didn’t give a toss about learning French.
Anyway, I reckon this is OT - there’s more interesting stuff about Wu to rant about than her language ability or lack thereof.

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[quote=“huggie, in another thread,”]Where is the following up on the Chen Yu-Hao issue? A day or two before the shooting 沈富雄 already admit to something that the first lady denies, that the first lady did see Chen years ago. The first lady either didn’t remember or lied.

As for stocks, too. By law the politicians are suppose to report 超過一千萬以上的股市交易. She has failed to report numerous transactions (which I heard from someone else.) Somehow KMT managed to dig out this issue. Maybe a dirty tricks of theirs but transactions are probably valid. of course I just hear these things from someone else so I didn’t check the facts.

The point is not that she failed to report the transactions. She lied about the transactions before the KMT dig them out.

Given the extreme pro-green climate of the Forumosa crowd and myself a pan-blue supporter, I especially find lack of discussions in this thread a selective amnesia.[/quote]
Hey, I’m fed up with ALL the turkeys that pass for leaders here - and their wives. Good question about Wu Shuzhen, though. And just what the hell is a FIrst Lady doing playing the stock market? It’s not like she needs the money? It presents a pretty apalling picture - she might as well be betting on the ponies at Happy Valley, or playing scratch-and-win lottery cards all day long. How about teaching underpriveliged kids to read, or working in orphanages or something like that. Playing the stock market with one’s considerable family fortune, whilst one’s husband has the most powerful job in the nation is just shameful, if you ask me.

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Chen Shuibian and Wu Shuzhen’s son also spent time playing the stock market while doing a cushy desk job during his military service.

p.s. 沈富雄 = Shen Fu-Hsiung = Shen Fuxiong (the senior DPP legislator who confirmed he “probably” accompanied tycoon Chen Yu-Hao to Chen and Wu’s house, where he gave Wu a big political donation. Wu denied that the visit ever took place. Note: this explosive revelation came just two days before the election and one day before the apparent assassination attempt, which cleared the issue out of most voters’ minds. Very convenient for A-Bian.

[quote]
Lawmaker confirms tycoon’s political donation claim

Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian’s run for re-election was hit by more negative publicity on Thursday; a senior ally broke weeks of silence to back a fugitive tycoon’s damaging claims against Chen’s wife. Senior legislator Shen Fu-hsiung said he accompanied the fugitive tycoon to the home of Chen’s wife 10 years ago. The tycoon had said he had gone to the house and handed over 3 million New Taiwan Dollars in political donations (US$91,000). Chen’s wife, Wu Shu-chen has issued a libel writ against the businessman saying the claims were damaging her husband’s campaign. Legislator Shen Fu-hsiung is a heavyweight in Chen’s Democratic Progressive Party (DPP). He said he was forced to clarify his role in the political donation after the businessman named him earlier this week to back up his allegations. Shen told a press conference on Thursday, “There are several possiblities of my role… and the greatest possibility is that I did go (to Wu’s home).” But he tried to defend the president’s wife by saying “she could have forgotten about the event dating 10 years back.” The first lady has denied the allegations. Amidst the allegations, President Chen on Thursday once again urged a clean election. He said, "I will not allow money politics to win or to rule the country, because 23 million people are electing the national leader. It is not people engaging in money politics deciding who Taiwan’s leader will be.
( RTI, AFP )[/quote]
Source: [url=http://www.cbs.org.tw/English/Message.aspx?news_id=9095]Radio Taiwan International[/url]

But there is [url=http://tw.forumosa.com/t/is-a-bian-a-big-fat-liar-or-the-victim-of-defamation/8466/1 thread about that[/url]. Perhaps it could be merged with this one.

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Plus, if anything awful is said, you can always blame the interpreter. :laughing:

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Whereas those splendid scions of Messrs Lien and Soong, while so conscientiously refraining from performing military service so that they wouldn’t be obliged to accept the unfair privilege of being consigned to cushy desk jobs, presumably acted impeccably in desisting from conducting any kind of financial transactions with the mountains of cash transferred to them in the US from the multi-billion-dollar fortunes that their fathers grafted so energetically to acquire through what we well know were completely honest, transparent and admirable means. So on this score, how could we not accept your contention that Chen Shui-bian is put to shame by comparison with the familial morality of his pan-blue rivals?

I’m almost tempted to suggest that people with the educational background of the first family’s son ALWAYS get cushy desk numbers when performing military service, because they can contribute much more with their brains than by doing push-ups and guard duty with the other grunts, but I’m surely not as well informed about it as you are and would be wide of the mark in not endorsing your insinuation that the true reasons behind it are far more sinister and dishonourable.

So thank you very much for sharing that with us. You’ve certainly helped me to see President Chen and his family in their true colours.

20

Why would anyone expect a first lady to be something other than the president’s wife? This is what they are in all but a few rare exceptions.
Comparing first ladies is weird. Why not compare Wu to Jiang Qing or Mary Todd Lincoln?