Taiwan is looking forward to strengthening its alliance with the US and other democratic nations to help contain the spread of authoritarianism, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday when meeting with academics from the Hoover Institution Project on Taiwan in the Indo-Pacific Region at the Presidential Office in Taipei.
The Ukraine-Russia War, the Israeli invasion of Gaza and Chinese military exercises have significantly challenged the rules-based world order, Lai told the delegation led by retired US admiral James Ellis Jr.
As Taiwan is situated in the first island chain and at the forefront of democracies’ defense, it would continue to contribute to global democracy, peace and prosperity, Lai said.
Photo: CNA
Taiwan’s implementation of the “four pillars” action plan would strengthen its national defense, bolster its economic safety and deepen partnerships with democratic nations, he added.
Lai defined the four pillars as building up the nation’s defense capabilities, promoting economic security and fostering supply chain resilience, forming partnerships with other democracies, and maintaining cross-strait peace and stability with steady and principled leadership.
The US strategy to build “grid-shaped” partnerships has encouraged mutual support among its Atlantic and Indo-Pacific allies, and Taiwan hopes for more robust and tighter collaboration with the US and other democratic allies to prop up a “democratic umbrella” to safeguard democratic nations from the threat presented by authoritarian states, Lai said.
Ellis thanked the president and said the presence of a senior participant from Australia, former Australian minister for defence and minister for foreign affairs Marise Payne, now a distinguished visiting fellow at the Stanford, California-based Hoover Institution, highlighted the hope for a stable and prosperous region among trusted Indo-Pacific partners.
In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and combined with the increasingly troubling collaboration among China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, what happens in one part of the world reverberates to other parts, Ellis said.
“We are all truly living in a historical moment, and our democracies face new responsibilities to deal with that reality,” he said.
He said every Taiwanese engineer working long hours with new American colleagues, every Taiwanese student venturing to a US university and every molecule of liquid natural gas bound for Taiwan from the US makes Taiwan stronger.
He said that both nations’ collective commitment to preserving democratic values would be demonstrated by their actions, individually and collectively.
In closing, Ellis said the US could not ask for a better partner than Taiwan on “this historic journey.”
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