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民進黨主席蘇貞昌今(9)日出席於菲律賓馬尼拉舉行的亞洲自由民主聯盟(Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, CALD)20週年大會，此亦是CALD與歐洲議會自由黨團(ALDE)兩年一度的大會。蘇主席全程以英文演說，其內容中、英全文如下：

 

   敬愛的森朗西閣下、華森閣下、范巴倫閣下、各位貴賓、亞洲自由民主聯盟會員們、各位女士與先生，

 

           很榮幸能與我的朋友們共聚一堂，慶祝亞洲自由民主聯盟20週年。亞洲自由民主聯盟的創立其實創始於台灣，時值1993年我任職民進黨秘書長之際，對此我深感自豪。很清楚的，當台灣開啟民主化時，民進黨與亞洲自由民主聯盟已建立一個強大的連結。我很高興民進黨與亞洲自由民主聯盟的關係仍然日益茁壯。

 

亞洲自由民主聯盟與台灣民主

           今年也是民進黨27週年黨慶，在1986年，當台灣仍處於戒嚴時期，我與另外17位成員在我們國家創立了第一個民主政黨，推動台灣民主化，也是終結政治迫害的唯一途徑。

 

           我們努力奮鬥對抗國民黨政權下的一黨專政，並成功推動國會及總統普選，最終在2000年成為執政黨。我們與菲律賓、韓國一起在東亞引領第三波民主化浪潮。

 

           我們與亞洲自由民主聯盟盟友們密切合作，共同促進區域的民主、人權及自由。如今我非常欣喜見到亞洲自由民主聯盟已成為亞洲最重要的政黨聯盟。回顧過往，當我們展開這個網絡連結時，未能預見能走多遠。然而我們已走過漫長的道路，應該為自身感到驕傲。

 

因應全球化影響                

          

           過去二十年來，我們有些友黨曾經執政。但正如同一些新的歐洲民主國家的歷程，某些亞洲自由民主國家現今正對抗著民主倒退。舉例來說，幾年前台灣人民允許先前的政權重返執政。我們現在見到一些舊政體的做法死灰復燃。

 

           然而，我們要鞏固此區域民主的決心不應因挫折而退減。現在需要的是弄清楚原因且努力克服挑戰。關於這點，我們面臨的基本議題，例如建立強有力的民主制度，以及因應諸如全球化等新因素。即使後者未與民主直接相關，但它確實是影響了民主進程。

 

           全球化，始於1990年代後期，帶來了機會與風險。它重塑社會階層，擴大社會。這些挑戰來得十分快速導致人民似乎已對長期改革失去耐心。許多人民僅想重溫美好舊時光，並支持過去的政權以換取一個更安全的經濟環境。在一些國家，例如我的國家，民主的形式猶存，但欠缺民主本質。

 

           與全球化相關的議題需要更多的區域和國際合作，我們無法獨力解決這些問題。我們必須團結。協力以對，我們將讓民主在國內、區域及全球更加鞏固。我們應該承擔更沉重的責任來分享良好的治理經驗，以邁向共同的目標。

 

           年輕的民主國家不應該相互對抗。相反地，我們需要共同努力來因應反民主勢力的挑戰。我們還需要相互支持來抵制一些人迎回過去的誘惑。我們相當了解舊政權的新面孔所可能做的是:描繪一個美好的經濟藍圖，然後剝奪人民一些基本權利，最終則是成長的果實僅落入少數強者的手中。

 

值得注意的成功故事

           不過，我們永遠不該因為挫折或挑戰而感到氣餒，尤其當成功的故事仍在不斷發展。我特別高興見到緬甸進行了政治轉型。這是緬甸人民在國際社會支持下努力的成果。我也注意到，菲律賓自由黨領袖已藉由發動政治改革展現他們推動良好治理的決心。

 

您們在台灣的姊妹黨民進黨，現今在全國民調中已獲得比執政黨國民黨更廣大的支持，民進黨所執政的縣市表現也被認為優於其他縣市。我們有信心將在明年選舉中獲得更多的支持。民進黨已經準備好承擔更多的責任。

 

當前新挑戰

           我們的眼前仍有些新挑戰，包括過度開發、汙染、生態破壞及越來越多因氣候變遷引發的天災。我們應該警覺，成長率不是唯一重要的數字，永續發展應該是我們的首重考量。關於這點，我們歐洲夥伴的一些經驗能照亮我們邁向發展的道路，我們也需要採取協助振興私營部門的政策，並創造中小企業的友善環境。在我的看法，我們應該要時常提醒自己亞洲自由民主聯盟的目標並且問自己關鍵問題：我們是否做得夠多足以贏得人民的支持?

 

強化民主同盟

           今年稍早我訪問東京，建議在亞洲民主國家之間成立一個民主同盟，以保障我們的價值和共同利益。民進黨主張透過外交協商來和平解決東海及南海爭議。台灣可做為在爭議地區中推動和平的區域領導者。在區域內的民主國家應該共同努力，基於我們對普世價值的共同信念，一同克服區域戰略變化帶來的挑戰。

 

      在此，我想重申在我六月華府之行所傳達的訊息，那就是責任、和解及再平衡。民進黨將致力履行對台灣未來的責任，也願意透過對話來和解，做為正常化兩岸關係的方法，且渴望在亞太民主國家間成為一個負責任的夥伴。

 

結論

           親愛的亞洲自由民主聯盟同僚，我們已在亞洲自由和民主政黨之間建立了堅實的民主同盟基礎，我們必須堅定地站一起，不論是執政或在野，擊退任何對民主的威脅，且要在此區域與世界其他地區致力促進我們的核心價值、自由和民主。

           民進黨獲益於亞洲自由民主聯盟與國際自由聯盟所提供的國際網絡，在我們的國際空間受限之際，這些助益對台灣來說非常重要。我想藉此機會表達謝忱，感謝這些年來在所有議題上的支持。

 

我深切期待亞洲自由聯盟接下來的二十年。

 

非常感謝。

 

英文全文:

 

Honorable Rainsy, Honorable Sir Watson, Honorable Van Baalen, Your Excellencies, fellow members of CALD, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

 

It is my pleasure to join this great gathering with our friends from CALD and ALDE to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of CALD. I am proud to say that the discussions to form CALD actually started in Taiwan in 1993 when I was serving as the Secretary-General of the Democratic Progressive Party. As you can easily tell, the DPP and CALD already formed a strong bond when Taiwan’s democratization started to gain momentum. I am very glad that the relations between the DPP and CALD are still going strong.

 

CALD and Taiwan Democracy

This year also marks the 27^th anniversary of the DPP. In 1986 when Taiwan was still under martial law, I and 17 other members founded the very first democratic party in our country to push for democratization as the only path to end political persecution.

 

We fought hard against the KMT one-party rule and successfully pushed for general elections for the parliament and the president, and ultimately the DPP became the ruling party in 2000. We joined the Philippines and Korea in leading the third wave democratization in East Asia.

 

We have worked closely with our friends in CALD to promote democracy, human rights and freedom throughout the region. Now I am very pleased to see that CALD has become the most important party alliance in Asia. As we look back, we did not foresee how far we could go when we started this network. But we have come a long way, and we should all be proud of ourselves.

 

Addressing the Impact of Globalization

In the past two decades, some of us were given the opportunities to govern. But just as some new European democracies have experienced, some Asian democracies are now fighting democratic setbacks. For just one example, the people of Taiwan allowed former regime return to power a few years ago. We now see some old practices come back alive.

 

However, our determination to consolidate democracy in the region should not be compromised by the setbacks. What we need now is to pin down the causes and work hard to overcome the challenges. In this regard, we face fundamental issues such as building strong democratic institutions and new factors such as globalization. Even though the latter was not directly related to democracy, it has certainly impacted our democratic processes.

 

Globalization, beginning from the late 1990s, has brought both opportunities and challenges to all of us. Our societies have been reshaped and the societal gaps have been widened. The challenges have come very fast and people seem to have lost their patience for long-term structural reform. Many people simply want to relive in the “good old days” and support the past regimes in exchange for a more secured economic environment. In some countries, such as my own, the democratic formalities still exist, the substance is otherwise.

 

The issues associated with globalization require more regional and international cooperation, as none of us can cope with the challenges alone. We must stay in solidarity. Together we will consolidate democracy domestically, regionally and globally. We should bear heavier responsibilities to share the experiences of good governance in moving forward our common objectives.

 

The young democracies should not go against each other. Rather, we need to work together to meet the challenges of the anti-democratic forces. We also need to support each other to suppress the temptation of some people to welcome back the past. We know quite well what the old regimes in new faces are capable of: painting an unreal economic picture, then depriving the people some fundamental rights, and in the end the fruits of growth are only in the hands of the powerful few.

 

Successful Stories to be Noticed

Nevertheless, we should never be discouraged by the setbacks or the challenges, as successful stories are still evolving. I am particularly happy to see the launch of political transition in Burma. This is the result of the effort made by the people with strong international support. I also notice that the Philippine liberal leadership has demonstrated their determination for good governance by launching political reform.

 

Your sister party in Taiwan, the DPP, has now received more popular support than the governing KMT in nation-wide public opinion polls. The localities in which the DPP governs have also been recognized to have out-performed their peers. We are confident that we will gain more ground in the elections next year. The DPP is ready to shoulder more responsibilities

 

New Challenges Ahead

There are still new challenges ahead of us, including over-development, pollution, ecological damages, and ever more natural disasters caused by the climate change. We should come to the awareness that growth rate is not the only figure that matters; sustainability should be our prime consideration. In this regard, the experience of some of our European partners can illuminate our path to development. We also need to adopt a policy to help revitalize the private sector and to create an environment friendly to small and medium enterprises. In my view, we should always remind ourselves the objectives of CALD and ask ourselves the key question: have we done enough to win the support of the people?

 

Strengthening a Democratic Alliance

In my trip to Tokyo earlier this year, I proposed to form a democratic alliance among Asian democracies to safeguard our value and our common interest. The DPP advocates peaceful resolution through diplomatic consultation to end disputes in East and South China Seas. Taiwan can and should serve as a regional leader in promoting peace in the contested areas. And fellow democracies in the region should work together, based on our belief in the universal value, to overcome the challenges brought by the regional strategic dynamics.

 

Here I would also like to repeat what I delivered in my trip to Washington, D.C. in June: responsibility, reconciliation and rebalance. The DPP is committed to its responsibilities for the future of Taiwan, is willing to reconcile through dialogues as a means to normalize cross-strait relations, and desires to be a responsible partner of fellow democracies in the Asia Pacific.

 

Conclusion

My dear CALD colleagues, we have built a solid foundation of a democratic alliance among the Asian liberal and democratic parties. We need to stand firmly together, in power or in opposition, to repel the threats to democracy, and to promote our core value, freedom and democracy, in the region and throughout the rest of the world.

 

The DPP enjoys the benefits of the international network provided by CALD and LI. They are crucial to Taiwan, for our international space has been limited. I would like to take this opportunity to extend to you our appreciation for your support all these years, in all issues.

 

I look forward to the next twenty years of CALD.

 

Thank you very much.