In an interview with Japanese writer Shiba Ryotaro in 1994, Lee Teng-hui clearly expressed his feeling that "the Kuomintang is an alien political force," and of "the tragedy of being born Taiwanese."
李登輝在民國八十三年接受日本作家司馬遼太郎訪問時，就清楚說出「國民黨是外來政權」、「生為台灣人的悲哀」等內心深處的感想。