Speech by Tsai Ing-Wen, former chairwoman of Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan

Tsai Ing-wen, Taiwan's first female candidate for president and the former chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party in Taiwan, will be visiting San Francisco Bay Area as part of her post-election appreciation tour. Tsai will be at Fremont Marriott Hotel of Silicon Valley on October 28, 2012 from 3:30pm to 5:30pm. She will be delivering a speech on the current state of political affairs in Taiwan and offer her sincere appreciation to her supporters. Everyone is welcome to attend. Tickets are $50 for center front and $10 for general admission. Tickets are available online at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4600887378



Tsai Ing-Wen, Ph.D. is the former chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taiwan. Studying in Taiwan, the U.S and the U.K. Tsai earned an LL.B. from National Taiwan University, an LL.M. from Cornell University Law School and a PhD from the London School of Economics. Dr. Tsai held professorial positions at several universities upon returning from her study abroad in 1984. Starting 1993, she was appointed to a series of governmental positions by the then-ruling Kuomintang (KMT) and was one of the chief drafters of the Special state-to-state relations doctrine of President Lee Teng-hui.

After DPP President Chen Shui-bian took office in 2000, Tsai was invited to serve as Minister of the Mainland Affairs Council throughout Chen's first term as a non-partisan. She became a DPP member in 2004 and served briefly as a DPP-listed non-constituency member of the Legislative Yuan. From there, she was appointed Vice Premier under Premier Su Tseng-chang until the cabinet's mass resignation in 2007. She was elected and assumed DPP chairpersonship in 2008, following her party's defeat in the 2008 presidential election. She resigned as chairperson after losing her 2012 presidential election bid.

Tsai ran for New Taipei City mayorship in the November 2010 municipal elections but was defeated by another former Vice Premier Eric Chu (KMT). In April 2011, Tsai became the first female presidential candidate in the history of the Republic of China after defeating her former superior, Su Tseng-chang, in the DPP's primary by a slight margin. She was defeated by President Ma Ying-jeou of the Kuomintang in the 5th direct presidential election in 2012.