Former Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) discussed the democratic legacy of Václav Havel, the late Czech playwright, dissident and former Czech president, at a Taipei forum attended by visiting Czech Senate President Miloš Vystrčil.

Speaking at the Václav Havel Dialogues event at National Chengchi University on Wednesday, June 3, Tsai said Havel’s ideas about democracy, civic responsibility and “living in truth” are relevant today.

“Democracy depends not only on institutions, but also on citizens who are willing to speak honestly, act responsibly and participate in public bodies,” Tsai said, reflecting Havel’s political philosophy.

Havel, who died in 2011, was jailed under communist rule before becoming Czechoslovakia’s first post-communist president after the 1989 Velvet Revolution and later served as the first president of the newly-established Czech Republic in 1993. 

Tsai said she met Havel more than 20 years ago at a conference in Prague, where they discussed civil society in an increasingly globalized world.

In a keynote speech at the forum, Vystrčil, whose previous visit to Taiwan in 2020 included a meeting with then-president Tsai, said that democratic nations share a responsibility to work together to strengthen security, resilience and freedom.

“Security is more important than immediate welfare. Resilience is more important than immediate profit,” the Czech senate president said in his speech which reflected on Havel’s legacy of dialogue, democratic responsibility and resisting authoritarianism.

At the forum, which was primarily organized by the Czech Centre Taipei and China-focused think tank Sinopsis, Czech and Taiwanese scholars further discussed Havel’s ideas and legacy. Later in the day, a memorial bench for Havel at Daan Forest Park was also unveiled in a ceremony attended by Vystrčil and Taipei City Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安).