During his visit to Japan last month, former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝) gave a speech to Japanese lawmakers in Tokyo. The main thrust of Lee’s speech, entitled “The Paradigm Shift of Taiwan,” was to inform Japanese lawmakers that Taiwanese identity has undergone a significant transformation following the nation’s democratic reform. National identity has changed from a vaguely China-centric, ethnically Chinese concept to a localized, Taiwanese identity, Lee said.