Kuomintang chair 
Cheng Li-wun spoke on Sept. 15 about why she took the party's top post, at a Chou Ta-kuan foundation event. Her original intention was the hope of turning hostility into friendship and playing a key role in a Taiwan Strait that outsiders believe could erupt into war at any time, not only avoiding war but building peace, CNA reported.
The event, hosted by the Chou Ta-kuan Cultural and Educational Foundation, marked Nigerian public-interest lawyer and poet Karimot Odebode receiving the Global Love of Life Medal and included an exchange with "life warriors" from various countries and with teachers and students of Hwa Hsing High School. In her address, Cheng said the strait is seen by outsiders as the most dangerous place in the world, one where war could break out at any time, and that she hoped to place Taiwan's future in its own hands.
She said people usually talk about Taiwan's economic strength, its "sacred mountain that protects the nation" and its democracy and freedom, but fewer people see the Chou Ta-kuan foundation, the Women's League and many other groups, large and small, known or unknown around the world, that are willing to share their happiness with the whole world when they have strength to spare. Hoping that African women, too, can escape poverty through education is a hope to spread love outward, she said.
The phrase "the world belongs to all, universal harmony" was not only the vision and ideal Father of the Nation Sun Yat-sen held throughout his life but dates back more than 2,000 years, she said, and the wish to feel others' hunger and drowning as one's own crosses eras and races as a fine state that everyone wants to reach. In a message of encouragement to young people, Cheng said, "Don't be afraid of being moved, don't be afraid of doing foolish things." Being moved by some force and being willing to set aside the self, even sacrificing the individual for a greater value, is what is precious, she said. Many young people who founded the Republic of China were not even 20 and joined the revolution resolved to give their lives, she said, and even though they could not see the outcome, they were still willing to give of themselves and sacrifice.
Figures referenced: Cheng Li-wun. — JudgeMarket.
