Vice President Hsiao Meiqin attended the "2026 Harvard Taiwan English Leadership Camp Opening Ceremony" this morning (11th) and said that in the face of climate change, geopolitical conflicts around the world, and unprecedented technological changes such as artificial intelligence, challenges and opportunities exist at the same time. She encouraged students to shape the future according to their own imagination of the ideal world; and encouraged students to become future leaders with characteristics such as communication, creativity, courage, curiosity, and self-confidence, leading not only Taiwan, but also the world.

The Vice President said in an English speech that today's opening ceremony has arranged many speeches and briefings. The most important significance of such activities is to learn from each other, understand each other and build bridges, and the bridge between National Taiwan University and Harvard is just one of them. What is more important is the bridge between Taiwan and the United States, as well as the people, youth and young generations of both Taiwan and the United States.

The Vice President mentioned that it may be difficult for students to imagine that when he was a high school student and about the same age as everyone else, the only way to understand the world was television, and there were only three official channels and no Internet. In comparison, this generation has more tools, including technology, easy connectivity, and the opportunity to learn another language through film, art, music, and these types of activities. He sincerely thanked all those who co-organized this event and said that he has always been willing to support Taiwan's young generation to connect with the world.

The Vice President pointed out that we are living in a very extraordinary era today, which also means that we are facing extraordinary challenges, including climate change, geopolitical conflicts around the world, and tests related to our own security, sovereignty, democracy, and the survival of free societies; we are also facing unprecedented technological changes such as artificial intelligence. This presents challenges, but also extraordinary opportunities, allowing students to shape the future according to their own imagination of an ideal world, with far more tools at their disposal than he could have imagined at the time. These tools may be technology, or they may be leadership and communication skills, which is why this event has a leadership theme.

The Vice President said that the speakers who had spoken earlier before him also talked about the concept of "communication." Communication is about listening, but also about talking to each other; it is about having the courage and confidence to express your thoughts, and it is also about staying humble and understanding that the person sitting next to you may know far better than you about a certain issue. Therefore, this event brings everyone together to think about the challenges and how to shape the future of the world, so that we can continue to enjoy freedom, openness, innovation and creativity, which are important forces that drive progress.

Talking about Taiwan's role in today's world, the Vice President said that as a Taiwanese, we sometimes hear people say that we are a small country, and it seems that we are also a country with many different voices and constant arguments and debates. At the same time, Taiwan's diversity makes us stronger, teaches us to be open to new ideas and learn from each other, and also makes us more confident in our place in today's world.

The vice president went on to say that we should also be proud because the technological strength that Taiwan has built and the open society that the Taiwanese people have built together have made us a small but powerful country. He is very happy to have the opportunity to support the students and believes that they will become Taiwan's future diplomats, artists, communicators, innovators and builders, and most importantly, will become future leaders, not only leading Taiwan, but also the world.

Finally, the vice president described leadership in terms of communication, creativity, courage, curiosity and confidence, and wished the students a week full of confidence, curiosity, courage and fun. I would also like to express my gratitude again to all those who co-organized this event, as well as the students from Harvard University who came all the way from the United States, for making good use of their summer vacation to engage in such meaningful activities and share their experiences with 80 outstanding high school students from all over Taiwan.

Including National Taiwan University International Dean Yuan Xiaowei, Academic Dean Zhu Shiwei, and President of the Harvard Alumni Association of the Republic of China Hou Zhiyuan also attended the event.