Jade Order

Jade order, badge, star, medal and pin

Strap buckle

The Jade Order ( Chinese  采玉 大 勳章  /  采玉 大 勋章 , Pinyin Cǎiyù Dà Xūnzhāng ) is the highest civil order in the Republic of China .

It is awarded by the President of the Republic of China . He himself received the medal as official insignia at the beginning of his term of office. Recipients of the order can only be foreign heads of state (or the heads of sovereign subjects of international law ). The order was founded on December 22, 1933.

The medal has a jade star in the center against a blue background. The shape of the star corresponds to the star on the flag of the Republic of China . The center is bordered by gold and pearls. The strap buckle is red.

Discussion about naming

The order was founded at the time of the Kuomintang (KMT) rule on the Chinese mainland in the old Republic of China and received the formal name ( 采玉 大 勳章  - "Selected Great Jade Order"). The first part of the name ( Cǎiyù ) was reminiscent of Wang Caiyu ( 王采玉 , Wáng Cǎiyù ), the mother of the Kuomintang ruler Chiang Kai-shek .

After the end of the Kuomintang sole rule in Taiwan in the late 1980s / early 1990s, there were repeated efforts by the parties in opposition to the KMT to name the order differently. On September 22, 2017, NPP MP Freddy Lim and DPP MP Lu Sun-ling tabled a bill to amend the relevant law in the Legislative Yuan. According to the proposed law, the order should be renamed the Great Yushan Order ( 玉山 大 勳章 , Yùshān dà Xūnzhāng , after the Yushan , the highest mountain in Taiwan). Lim explained that Chiang was a dictator and that his mother had no connection with Taiwan. It is not appropriate to name the highest national order after a "foreign person".

The legislative initiative was blocked by the KMT in the corresponding committee, so that it has not yet been passed.

Medal bearer (selection)

Recipients of the order were typically the presidents of the Republic of China itself and the heads of state of the countries with which Taiwan has diplomatic relations. The following list is not exhaustive.

•  German Empire June 1938: Erhard Milch
•  China August 1943: Chiang Kai-shek
•  Taiwan April 1975: Yen Chia-kan
•  Taiwan May 1978: Chiang Ching-kuo
•  Taiwan January 1988: Lee Teng-hui
•  Central African Republic May 12, 1992: André Kolingba
•  Panama October 8, 1992: Guillermo Endara Galimany
•  Paraguay August 25, 1995: Juan Carlos Wasmosy
•  Costa Rica March 23, 1999: Miguel Ángel Rodríguez Echeverría
•  Dominican Republic September 27, 1999 Leonel Fernández
•  Nauru November 20, 1999: René Harris
•  Panama July 2000: Mireya Moscoso
•  Dominican Republic March 2001: Hipólito Mejía
•  Taiwan May 2001: Chen Shui-bian
•  Honduras October 24, 2002: Ricardo Maduro
•  Sao Tome and Principe January 9, 2004: Fradique de Menezes
•  Paraguay May 2004: Nicanor Duarte Frutos
•  El Salvador August 12, 2004: Antonio Saca
•  Malawi January 12, 2005: Bingu wa Mutharika
•  Guatemala August 2005: Óscar Berger Perdomo
•  Palau January 18, 2007: Thomas Remengesau junior
•  Guatemala October 2008: Álvaro Colom Caballeros
•  Kiribati June 7, 2010: Anote Tong
•  Paraguay March 14th 2011: Fernando Lugo
•  Paraguay 2013: Federico Franco
•  Paraguay October 8th 2014 Horacio Cartes
•  Marshall Islands November 2014 Christopher Loeak
•  Sovereign Order of Malta November 5, 2015: Matthew Festing
•  Honduras October 3rd, 2016: Juan Orlando Hernández
•  Guatemala January 11, 2017: Jimmy Morales
•  Haiti May 29, 2018: Jovenel Moïse
•  Paraguay October 8, 2018: Mario Abdo Benítez

Individual evidence

1. ^ ^{A b} Decorations of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Presidential Office of the Republic of China (Taiwan), accessed March 3, 2019 . 
2. ^ Ribbon buckles of the Republic of China. Retrieved March 2, 2019 . 
3. ↑ 勳章 以 蔣介石 母親 命名 立委 提案 修 法 遭 國民黨 團 阻擋 ("The order was named after Chiang Kai-shek's mother - application for a change in the law was blocked by the Kuomintang faction"). Liberty Times, September 22, 2017, accessed March 2, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
4. ↑ Chen Yu-fu: KMT blocks bill on renaming civil orders. Taipei Times, October 14, 2017, accessed March 3, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Milch, Erhard (inventory). Retrieved on March 16, 2019 (information in the German Digital Library based on information from the German Federal Archives). 
6. ↑ 總統 玫 贈 采玉 勳章 給 中非 總統 柯林巴 ("The President awarded the Central African President a medal"). Presidential Office of the Republic of China, May 12, 1992, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
7. ↑ 總統 玫 贈 采玉 大 勳章 給 恩達拉 ("The President awarded the Jade Order to Endara"). Presidential Office of the Republic of China, October 8, 1992, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
8. ↑ 總統 贈 勳 巴拉圭 總統 (“Honor of the President of Paraguay by the President”). Presidential Office of the Republic of China, August 25, 1995, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
9. ↑ 中華民國 八十 八年 外交 年鑑 ("Diplomatic Yearbook of the Republic of China 1999"). Retrieved March 14, 2019 (Chinese (Traditional)). 
10. ↑ 多明尼加 共和國 總統 費南德斯 閣下 等 一行 抵 華 訪問 ("His Excellency Fernandez arrives for the first visit to China"). Presidential Office of the Republic of China, October 6, 1999, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
11. ↑ 總統 贈 勳 諾魯 共和國 總統 哈里斯 「采玉 大 勳章」 ("The President awarded the President of the Republic of Nauru, Harris, the 'Jade Order'"). Presidential Office of the Republic of China, November 20, 1999, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
12. ↑ 陈 总统 与 马 度 洛 总统 二次 晤谈 及 签署 联合 公报 ("President Chen and President Maduro held two talks and signed a joint communique"). Epoch Times, October 24, 2002, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
13. ↑ 總統 與 聖多美 普林西 比 民主 共和國 總統 梅尼士 共同 簽署 聯合 公報 ("The President and the President of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Menezes, signed a joint communique"). Presidential Office of the Republic of China, January 9, 2004, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
14. ↑ 台軍 禮 加 盛宴 迎 薩 國 總統 ("Military ceremony to welcome the President of El Salvador in Taiwan"). Epoch Times, Aug 12, 2004, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
15. ↑ 陳水扁 ︰ 台灣 人道 援外 國際 終將 認同 ("Chen Shui-bian: Taiwan's humanitarian aid will eventually change the mind of the international community"). Epoch Times, January 12, 2005, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
16. ↑ 總統 以 國宴 款待 帛琉 共和國 總統 雷蒙傑索 伉儷 並 贈 勳 ("The President held a state banquet for the President of Palau and presented an honor"). Presidential Office of the Republic of China, January 18, 2007, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
17. ↑ 總統 以 國宴 款待 巴拉圭 共和國 總統 卡提斯 閣下 並 與 卡提斯 總統 簽署 聯合 公報 ("The President held a state banquet for the President of the Republic of Paraguay, His Excellency Cartes, and signed a joint communiqué with President Cartes"). Presidential Office of the Republic of China, October 8, 2004, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
18. ↑ 總統 與 馬紹爾群島 共和國 總統 羅亞克 （Christopher J. Loeak） 伉儷 贈 勳 暨 會談 ("The President and President of the Marshall Islands, Christopher J. Loeak, met for an honor and for talks"). Presidential Office of the Republic of China, November 27, 2014, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
19. ↑ 總統 與 馬爾 他 騎士 團 元首 費斯汀 大 教 長 互贈 勳章 典禮 (“The President and the Grand Master of the Order of Malta presented each other with a medal”). Presidential Office of the Republic of China, November 5, 2015, accessed March 14, 2019 (Traditional Chinese). 
20. ↑ ^{a b c d} Orders and decorations bestowed by President Tsai. Presidential Office of the Republic of China, accessed March 14, 2019 .