Let us work together toward another 40 years of friendship!

2019年3月20日台北市柯文哲市長參加亞特蘭大-臺北締結姊妹市40週年慶祝酒會致詞稿

Secretary of State Mr. Raffensperger, President of Atlanta City Council Ms. Moore, Director General Liu, members of the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce and the Sister Cities Committee of Atlanta City, overseas Taiwanese expatriates, ladies and gentlemen, good evening!

On behalf of the Taipei delegation, I would like to thank the Atlanta City Government and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta for receiving us and hosting this special event. I would also like to thank the Center for Puppetry Arts and the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce for your warm reception today!

This year is a special year. On November 5, 1979, the City of Atlanta and Taipei City became sister cities, and we have since maintained a close friendship. For the past 40 years, we have overcome the constraints of time and space, engaging in exchanges and collaborations in the areas of urban governance, commerce, education and culture. I am very proud to be able to participate in this visit, where we celebrate the 40th anniversary of our sister city relationship. Let us work together and endeavor toward another 40 years of friendship.

Prior to this visit, I have met with the former President of Taiwan, Dr. Lee Teng-hui, who recalled the signing of the sister city agreement when he was the mayor of Taipei City. After 40 years, President Lee is still in good health. I have just heard that a special guest who witnessed the signing of the sister city agreement will also be here tonight. I really look forward to meeting this person.

To my understanding, 56 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. started a civil rights movement in the city, where he used a rational and non-violent approach to pursue racial equality. His commitment in resolving the problem of social inequality drove the American society’s transition toward ethnic harmony and emphasis on human rights. Today, we see an American society with cultural diversity and social cohesion. I hope that I can also endeavor toward building a just and equal society under the ideal of “do the right thing, do things right.” Taiwanese people are very fortunate to be able to enjoy the universal values of democracy, freedom, diversity, openness, human rights, rule of law, and sustainability. In the future, I will continue to uphold and promote these values, create policies that meet people’s everyday needs, and stand with Taipei’s residents to face and resolve all problems.

Accompanying me during this visit are five members of the Taipei City Council and representatives from five departments of the Taipei City Government. They are all here today. I encourage everyone to use this opportunity to exchange business cards and experiences with each other. Let us build upon the friendship of two cities.

I would like to make an announcement. This year, in addition to the series of events hosted by the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Atlanta and the Atlanta City Government to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the sister city relationship, the Taipei Symphony Orchestra will visit Atlanta on November 17 to perform at the Georgia State University. I invite everyone as well as your friends and family to attend the event and enjoy the top-notch performance from Taipei, and let residents in Atlanta and Georgia know more about our city.

Finally, please join me to give a toast to the long-lasting friendship between Taipei and Atlanta. I wish you all have a great evening!
A birthday party for Mayor Maynard Jackson!

2019年3月20日簽署姊妹市協定之亞特蘭大市已故市長Maynard Jackson遺孀Valerie Jackson酒會致詞稿

Good afternoon or rather good evening to everyone tonight. Thank you so much Mayor Ko for being here tonight and to each and every one of my old as well as new sister-city friends that I met tonight, I want to say how special it is for me to be here tonight and I especially want to extend a warm welcome to all of our visitors from Taiwan. Welcome to Atlanta. I hope you have a wonderful time.

My memories of Taiwan have been totally refreshed this evening. I'm reminded of the fascinating visit I had with my late husband to Taipei and Taiwan and how fascinating it was. I think what I remember most, though, is the energy, the strong energy, both physical and spiritual, in the city. Maybe next was the food, especially those dumplings. I'm not sure if that's the right name, but I loved those dumplings. Or maybe it was the Chinese exhibits. It was all good; what can I say? And ironically, just day before yesterday, I was going through an old drawer and I found a very small box of matches that were from Grand Hotel? Do they still have Grand Hotel in Taiwan? It's a very old hotel, and I had a little pack of matches from Grand Hotel in Taiwan. At any rate, talk about synchronicity, all right? In forty years I haven't seen that box of matches, but I found it yesterday. Amazing. Isn't that something?

During the past couple of decades I can only imagine Taipei's growth and how fascinating it must be now. Especially given the history of Mayor Lee, who was the mayor when we made this agreement, who went on to become the first democratically elected president. I like to think that Maynard's democracy rubbed off on him, you know, during the sister-city program.

I remember also in 1993 when my late husband announced the creation of an Atlanta Trade Representative Office in Taipei, increasing even more the opportunities for trade and cooperation between the two cities. The trade encouraged cultural exchanges as well, and a few years ago, Taiwan's youth international ambassadors visited Atlanta during their worldwide tour, and they actually performed their dance at Emory University as well as participating in cultural discussions and seminars, something I'd like to see more of: young people, all of our young people, being involved in sister-city relationships.

Our young people will lead us tomorrow. They're going to be the ones who determine whether we get social security and if we do, how much social security we get, so it's important that we bring our young people along, that we expose them to different cultures and people. It's important that we reach out to international relations, especially in these times of turmoil and too much frustration in the world. I think travel is important between our communities, between our cities, between our nations, because as Mark Twain once said -- he was a great writer, and a great traveler -- travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.

Travel will kill bigotry and narrow-mindedness because if you travel you get to know people, and if you know people, then you are willing to know people, to live with people. So, I think it's very important that we reach out to the international community, and I encourage the few of you who have not been to Taipei or to Taiwan, to go and experience its beauty and culture. I've been encouraged tonight to make a return trip and in the near future for myself, just to see what's going on there now. And by the way, Maynard's birthday is the day after tomorrow, March 23, and I know he thinks this is a birthday party for him. This has been a wonderful evening. Thank you all for being a part of this celebration and recognition, and I truly appreciate it and each of you. Thank you so much.