Taiwan vice president thanks citizens week before leaving office

23.7 million Taiwanese light up island nation like candles, every citizen is a hero: Chen Chien-jen

Taiwan News
Date: 2020/05/14
By: Ching-Tse Cheng, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — With the inauguration of President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Vice President-elect William Lai (賴清德) less than a week away, current Vice President Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) on Wednesday (May 13) expressed his sincere gratitude to the country's 23.7 million people for giving him an opportunity to serve.

As Tsai prepares to start her second term on May 20 with the former premier, Chen took to Facebook Wednesday evening to reveal his next step and share the lessons he has learned over the last four years. Chen said he plans on returning to Academia Sinica to continue his research.

As a Catholic, Chen said he is "a little pencil in God's hands" just as Mother Teresa once described herself, and that God has endowed him with the courage to face every challenge and guide him through his term. He emphasized that it was an honor to serve the Taiwanese public, who has shown much generosity to him and his team.

The vice president pointed out that Taiwan has demonstrated its progressiveness since he took office in 2016 in areas such as pension reform, marriage equality, human rights, as well as its efforts in handling the pandemic crisis. He said each citizen is a hero and serves as a candle that lights up the nation.    [FULL  STORY]