Q: What made you want to put on classes in statesmanship?

A: Generally speaking, people in politics tend to get bogged down in the day-to-day detail of their work. If we can give them an opportunity to quietly look back and think about why they entered politics in the first place, perhaps through the experience of opening their hearts, and through exchanges with other people, they can improve themselves and gain the insight to think critically about their basic attitude to politics. In this way we have the opportunity to let more people come together to realize democracy and promote the public good.

On both the academic and practical sides of Taiwanese politics, there has never been an effort to cultivate the kind of statesmen who can set an example to others. Our education system in general doesn't lay much stress on developing the morality, character and cultural depth needed in a statesman. Of course we are well aware that statesmanship can't be learned just from a short series of classes, but we hope that by laying on these courses from our standpoint as a cultural and educational foundation, and not from a party political standpoint, we can make a start by using culture and education to purify people's hearts. Because in fact a real political leader needs to speak from the heart and express his true hopes.

Therefore in this activity we have laid great stress on humanistic aspects such as the meaning of life, the quality of the soul, understanding human nature and appreciating art and culture, along with such things as "dialogue on suffering, altruism, permanence and impermanence, and ways toward transcendence and release," and "witnessing faith and the power of love." That's because we believe that practical political leadership and organizational work require an understanding of human nature, an appreciation of the suffering inherent in human existence, and a realization of one's own position in the overall course of history, and should not be merely a hotchpotch of practical tasks divorced from human values. Thus the design of our course emphasizes a values-oriented approach to understanding human life and human nature, as the starting point for developing statesmanship in our politicians.

Quality of character comes first

Q: What special qualities do you believe a political leader should have?

A: The most important thing is quality of character. The basic spirit a statesman should have is that of caring about our people and our land; it's not a question of political skill. I believe that in politics, no matter how base human nature may be, you have to maintain your core values and have the courage of your convictions.

Q: Moral character aside, what practical abilities does one need in Taiwanese politics today?

A: I think you have to be able to express yourself. If a politician isn't good at expressing himself, and relies too much on media packaging and putting on a show, that's a great pity. In fact when being interviewed by the media, a politician must have standards of choice and judgement, and when debating political beliefs you also have to pay attention to inter-party harmony and be able to avoid unnecessary wars of words. Even when there is a fundamental clash of values and ideals, you need to be clear about the wisdom of making an attack. Basically you should only do so if it is good for the country's political future.

Q: Do you believe you are a good political leader yourself? Does Taiwanese society need leaders?

A: In fact I don't much like the term political leader, because in today's democratic society, everything ought to be done according to the common will of the people. If we want Taiwan to be a true democracy, what we need today is "statesmanship," not "leaders." In fact an ordinary neighborhood chief can be a statesman if they do their job in an outstanding way.

Q: Which statesmen in history have had the greatest influence on your political career and ideals?

A: Lincoln and Gandhi are examples of men of ability and compassion, and they have influenced me to some degree. But most people put them on too high a moral and spiritual plane. I believe that in fact they both fully brought out the value of the individual. Another kind of politician I admire is those with eloquence and talent, like the third US president, Thomas Jefferson, or President Roosevelt.

Politics is like marriage!

Q: Of the various subject matters covered in your courses, which do you feel is particularly noteworthy?

A: In the past, Chilin has put on many study camps, and some young people came up with the imaginative idea of staging "wedding ceremonies." Through this approach, we can help people understand that the decision to enter politics is just as serious and deserving of careful consideration as getting married. That's because marriage is something that lasts a lifetime, and it requires patience, commitment and compromise from both sides, and communication about all sorts of attitudes and ideas. The experience of the wedding ceremony can give someone intending to enter politics a deep-down realization that "politics is for life"!

Finally, I'd like to say that in Taiwanese society today, we need people who will contribute their efforts to cultivating statesmanship in our politicians, and who plan to carry on this important work in the long term. I hope that for future statesmanship classes at the Chilin Foundation we can invite senior politicians with experience in practical politics to come and help us put our ideals into practice. Only then can they and our course participants together hammer out a meaningful set of ideas, and this process will also allow our politicians to examine themselves critically and gain a new awareness.