For the rule that all Chinese rivers flow from west to east does not hold true in Taiwan, where mountainous spine of the island, running from north to south, ensures some of the main watercourses on the western side of the island disregard the lore that tradition has formulated. And, similarly, culture in Taiwan has come to have its own identity and to move in directions of its own. Moreover, since 1991, rivers have not ceased to flow, and a lot has happened, both in Taiwan and in Cambridge. In Taiwan, at last, the Taiwanese people have been able to raise their own political voice. A democratic society is in the making, and it commands the respect of the whole free world.

     In University of Cambridge, we have now held the Chuan Lyu Lectures for five years, and this year is the sixth. The Lectures have come to mark a key point in our academic year, when the formal teaching programme comes to an end and the students begin to prepare intensively for their annual examinations. The number of Taiwanese students in Cambridge, as tonight's lecture demonstrated, has grown greatly in the last few years. We are beginning to see a large increase in our own students reading Chinese Studies as well. We have developed a plan to expand our programme not only in Chinese Studies, but in East Asia Studies more generally. We have an ambitious plan for a new building, for an East Asian Institute, which would provide facilities for teaching, research and exchange programmes with the countries of East Asia. The support and the confidence that the Chuan Lyu Foundation has shown in us matters enormously to us. We are most grateful.

     May I in conclusion propose the health of the Chuan Lyu Foundation, and also drink to the health of Dr. Darrel Liu, who again sadly is not able to be with us in his old College this evening.