[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 147 (2001), Part 16]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 22932]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


[[Page 22932]]

       WORLD PEACE PRIZE FOR ANNETTE LU, VICE PRESIDENT OF TAIWAN

                                 ______
                                 

                        HON. BENJAMIN A. GILMAN

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 16, 2001

  Mr. GILMAN. Mr. Speaker, on December 9, 2001 in Taipei, Taiwan Vice 
President Annette Lu will be awarded the World Peace Prize by the World 
Peace Prize Awarding Council. The World Peace Prize Awarding Council, 
is a non-profit association under the leadership of Dr. Han Min Su, who 
founded the Council in cooperation with the late Hon. Robert Leggett, 
then a Senior Member of the U.S. Congress, and a Korean War veteran.
  The Council today has some 50,000 members, mainly Korean evangelicals 
and their ministers. The Council consists of an international board of 
judges, bringing experienced and dedicated individuals from many 
countries; including: Dr. Asher Naim from Israel, Dr. Mohamed Cholkamy 
from Egypt, Dr. Carlito Puno from the Philippines, Dr. Bhupatary Oza 
from India, and Dr. Shiu Loon Kong from Hong Kong. Under their 
guidance, the Council has sought to recognize individuals from around 
the world who have undertaken extraordinary efforts in order to advance 
peace and stability in their respective regions.
  Appropriately, Vice President Annette Lu, is the first to receive 
this Award from the ROC, and she joins a group of distinguished 
recipients of the Council's Peace Prize Award. Among earlier honorees 
have been former President Ronald Reagan, President Hosni Mubarak of 
Egypt, the Hon. Itzhack Rabin, Premier of Israel, Dr. Syngman Rhee, 
former President of the Republic of Korea, the Hon. Daniel Akaka, U.S. 
Senator, Lt. Gen. Herman Keck, Jr. Retired Superintendent of the U.S. 
Chaplains Association, and Emomali Rahnonov, President of Tajikistan. 
Each of these has received the World Peace Prize Award for activities 
that have contributed to peace in the world.
  Typical of the type of accomplishments Vice President Lu has sought 
to achieve is the recently concluded 2001 Global Peace Assembly, which 
was held in Taipei, Taiwan this summer. This assembly coincided with 
the anniversary of the ending of World War II, and brought together 
such Nobel Peace Laureates as: Hon. Betty Williams from Northern 
Ireland, H.E. Lech Walesa from Poland, H.E. Oscararias Sanchez from 
Costa Rica, H.E. Fredrik DeKlerk from South Africa, Hon. Joseph Rotblat 
from the United Kingdom, and Hon. Jody Williams from the United States. 
During this assembly, these participants joined with the people of 
Taiwan to declare their firm commitment to pursuing avenues of space in 
seeking to resolve long-standing disputes in the region. This included 
a commitment to pursuing national security with defensive 
characteristics as well as pro-active dialogue in cross-strait 
relations. The Global Peace Assembly was an outstanding success in 
forwarding the cause of peace and cooperation in this important region 
of the world, and in helping to prevent tensions across the Taiwan 
Strait.
  Vice President Lu is the first woman to receive this award, which is 
entirely fitting, because she has worked tirelessly on behalf of 
women's rights in the Republic of China. She stimulated the growth of 
Taiwan's feminist movement, as well as crusading for greater democracy 
in the ROC, for which she paid a price. If that was the first time she 
received international attention for her effects on behalf of freedom 
and democracy, it has not been the last. That event marked the 
beginning of a trail which saw her political party, the Democratic 
Peoples Party, rise to prominence, in no small part due to her 
activities, first as an effective opposition to the Kuomintang and 
finally as leaders of the first new, democratically elected Chinese 
government. And it made her the vice president of the Republic of 
China.
  Along the way, this graduate of Harvard Law School has been a 
practicing attorney and has served with distinction as a Member of the 
Legislative Yuan. Prior to her election to the Vice Presidency she won 
election as Magistrate of Taoyuan County. If anything, that task is 
probably more difficult than being Vice President, in that she has 
consistently and vigorously sought to end corruption and to make 
Taoyuan County a good place in which to invest and to live.
  Throughout here career, Annette Lu has fought for women's rights, 
peace, and stability in the Republic of China and abroad. In these 
troubled times, even before the atrocities of 9-11, the world has 
needed and now more than ever needs to take whatever strides it can on 
behalf of democracy and freedom. Taiwan has joined the World Trade 
Organization, a positive step for the Republic of China on Taiwan. In 
these troubled times, it is appropriate for lovers of democracy to 
recognize those who work hard to advance it, for to do so is to advance 
the cause of peace in a time of great strife and a heightened risk to 
the freedom--loving peoples of the world. In this spirit the World 
Peace Prize Awarding Council honored Vice President Lu with the World 
Peace Price and we heartfelt commend them for their initiative.

                          ____________________