Taiwan’s partnership with like-minded countries will “prove to be the most effective defense of all” against daily Chinese threats, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told a summit on Monday.
“We must remain united to deter and to stop [China’s] aggressive behavior,” Tsai said in a prerecorded video broadcast at the two-day Copenhagen Democracy Summit.
Tsai made particular note of Beijing’s “coercive measures,” such as the imposition of sanctions against countries, organizations and individuals who disagree with or question its behavior.
Photo: Tony Yao, Taipei Times
Authoritarian regimes such as China “actively conduct influence operations to erode our confidence in democratic institutions and freedom” through the spread of disinformation and misinformation, she said.
Faced with China’s daily threats, Taiwanese commitment to democracy “has never been stronger,” she said.
The summit, which opened on Monday in the Danish capital, is organized by the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, with support from dozens of organizations, including the Taipei-funded Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.
Photo: screen grab from the Alliance of Democracies Foundation’s YouTube channel
Tsai’s remarks on Monday, which focused on championing Taiwan’s democracy and calling for a united front against authoritarianism, echoed her previous three speeches at the summit in 2020, 2021 and last year.
Jack Yao (姚冠均), a Taiwanese soldier fighting in Ukraine, was also invited to speak remotely at the summit.
The Alliance of Democracies posted a still from his speech on Twitter with Yao’s call to action.
“If we don’t stop the Russian invasion in the front — your children, your families will have to face a much harder situation. To Taiwanese guys I like to say: If we don’t stop them, we will be next,” he was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, former British prime minister Liz Truss said that engagement with Taiwan is “very important,” amid Beijing attempts to minimize Taiwan’s international space.
“I believe it is they — the democratically elected government of Taiwan — that knows what is best for their citizens and their future,” she said in an interview with Politico editor-in-chief Jamil Anderlini at the democracy summit when asked why she is visiting Taiwan.
Beijing is “trying to reduce the space that Taiwan has to operate” and reinterpret the “one China” policy to mean that no country should have any engagement with Taiwan, she said.
“I believe that is the wrong thing for us to do, because ... that makes it more likely that China will succeed in its ambitions of taking over Taiwan and extinguishing freedom and democracy there,” she said.
Western nations should respond to threats from Beijing by taking practical steps to develop engagement with Taiwan, including by supporting its participation in organizations such as the WHO and ensuring it can defend itself, Truss said.
“Rather than playing the man, we should play the bull,” she added.
Truss arrived in Taiwan at 6:23pm yesterday, and is to stay until Saturday. She was greeted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) upon her arrival.
She has said she was making the trip because she was invited by the Taiwanese government.
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