TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Annie Lee (李安妮), chairwoman of the Lee Teng-hui Foundation (李登輝基金會), announced Monday (June 2) an innovative exhibition featuring an artificial intelligence recreation of Taiwan's first democratically elected president at a high-profile Tokyo event hosted by the "Friends of Lee Teng-Hui Association in Japan" (李登輝之友會). The announcement, made before an audience of Japanese dignitaries and Taiwan supporters, highlighted the enduring diplomatic and personal connections between Taiwan and Japan that Lee Teng-hui cultivated during his presidency from 1988 to 2000.
Akie Abe (安倍昭惠), widow of assassinated former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (安倍晉三), attended the Tokyo gathering as a distinguished guest, engaging in extended conversations with Annie Lee about the technological exhibition and bilateral relations. Her presence underscored the continued importance of the personal diplomacy networks established during her late husband's administration, which was known for its particularly warm stance toward Taiwan amid complex regional dynamics.
The centerpiece of the exhibition will be an interactive "AI Lee Teng-hui" (AI李登輝) installation at the National Taiwan Library (國立台灣圖書館), a major cultural institution in New Taipei City, beginning July 30. This cutting-edge technological recreation will use artificial intelligence to allow visitors to engage in simulated conversations with the former president, who passed away in 2020 at age 97 after leading Taiwan through its critical democratic transition and establishing the foundation for its current political system.
Annie Lee revealed that the exhibition has been designed for a two-year run, providing an extended opportunity for Taiwanese citizens and international visitors to engage with former President Lee Teng-hui's intellectual and political legacy through technologically innovative means. This unusually long exhibition timeline reflects the foundation's commitment to ensuring broad public access to the democratic principles and national identity concepts that defined Lee's transformative presidency during Taiwan's transition from authoritarian rule.
Beyond the AI installation, the comprehensive display will showcase President Lee's extensive personal book collection, his published writings in multiple languages, and previously unseen artifacts from his private life and public service. These carefully curated materials offer insights into the intellectual development of a leader who navigated Taiwan through diplomatic isolation while establishing democratic institutions that have become central to Taiwan's distinct identity in the international community.
During the Tokyo announcement, Akie Abe expressed both personal interest and satisfaction with the innovative exhibition concept, while proposing the intriguing possibility of developing a complementary "AI Shinzo Abe" installation that could potentially enable virtual interactions between the digital recreations of the two late leaders. This technological dialogue would symbolically represent the strong personal relationship the two statesmen developed, with Abe having described Lee as his "mentor" in approaches to regional diplomacy.
Annie Lee outlined the foundation's broader transformation efforts beyond the exhibition, including ambitious initiatives to convert Lee Teng-hui's intellectual legacy into an accessible public asset through digitization projects, hosting international academic seminars examining his political philosophy, organizing commemorative concerts celebrating Taiwan's democratic journey, and advancing plans for a permanent memorial library. These multifaceted efforts reflect the foundation's commitment to preserving not just memorabilia but the democratic values Lee championed throughout his political career.
The chairwoman emphasized the historical significance of the planned memorial, which will prominently feature the actual S-70C helicopter President Lee used during his hands-on assessment of the catastrophic 921 Earthquake in 1999 — a disaster that killed more than 2,400 people and tested Taiwan's emergency response systems. This physical artifact, Annie Lee explained, will serve as a powerful symbol of leadership during crisis, designed to preserve collective memory of Taiwan's resilience and inspire future generations facing their own national challenges.
Akie Abe, who serves as an honorary advisor to the Friends of Lee Teng-hui Association in Japan, concluded the Tokyo event by committing to expand her efforts to introduce Lee Teng-hui's democratic legacy to broader Japanese audiences. This pledge reflects the continued cultivation of unofficial diplomatic channels between Japan and Taiwan, maintaining people-to-people connections that persist despite Japan's formal diplomatic recognition of Beijing since 1972 ◼