Iron Lady's case for preserving Taiwan's independence

Tokyo

LU HSIU-LIEN might be anyone's favourite aunt - Aunt "Annette" (to use her Western given name). Her rather matronly, "tweedy" yet essentially kindly air conveys the impression of a caring aunt, but there is a hidden steel behind the ready smile of the 70-year- old former vice-president of Taiwan.

She has no doubt about the ability of women to lead the world. Her favourite role model is German Chancellor Angela Merkel and she is quick to point out that the US may soon have a woman president (Hillary Clinton) while in South Korea, Park Geun-hye is the country's first female leader.

Taiwan too, Ms Lu told the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ) in a feisty address there, could have a woman president next year in the person of Tsai Ing-wen, chairwoman of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who is seen as a shoo-in after the losses suffered by the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party in local elections last November. Not that Ms Lu needs to cite others as role models or as examples of courage. A seemingly fearless political and feminist activist, she spent six years in jail for her convictions, survived an …