Daily Inspiration Quote by Chen Shui-bian

"I believe in the greatness of our people" is the kind of political sentence that looks bland until you notice how much it smuggles in. Chen Shui-bian isn’t praising an abstract citizenry; he’s staking legitimacy on the idea that Taiwan’s political future should be decided by Taiwanese people, not inherited, dictated, or negotiated away over their heads. In a cross-strait context where sovereignty is contested and language is policed, "our people" is a boundary line drawn in soft chalk. It signals a demos - a political community - without having to say the most combustible nouns out loud.

The word "believe" matters too. It’s not a statistic or a policy platform; it’s faith language, meant to stabilize a public that’s lived through martial law, democratic transition, and constant geopolitical pressure. Belief is what you offer when institutions are still earning trust and when external powers want you to feel small. "Greatness" does double duty: it flatters, but it also assigns responsibility. Great people are expected to endure, to vote, to resist intimidation, to accept the costs of self-determination.

Chen, a Democratic Progressive Party figure and former president, used this register to recast Taiwan’s identity as democratic competence rather than ethnic destiny. It’s a counter-narrative to both authoritarian paternalism at home and the insinuation from Beijing that Taiwan’s autonomy is a temporary misunderstanding. The line works because it’s capacious: it can mean dignity, resilience, democratic maturity - and, for supporters, the quiet claim that a nation exists wherever "our people" decide it does.