If China were to take Taiwan, Beijing would become "more aggressive, undermining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific and the rules-based international order," President William Lai (賴清德) said in an interview published today.
"If Taiwan were annexed by China, China's expansionist ambitions would not stop there," Lai told Agence France-Presse in an exclusive interview at the Presidential Office Building in Taipei.
"The next countries under threat would be Japan, the Philippines and others in the Indo-Pacific region, with repercussions eventually reaching the Americas and Europe," he said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
"In this changing world, nations belong to a global community — a situation in any one country would inevitably impact another," he said.
"We must have the capability to deter China's aggression at any time," Lai said. "We want to ensure that, for China, there is never a day that is a good day to invade Taiwan."
"Taiwan is responsible for safeguarding our own country," Lai said, adding that Taiwan-US relations are "rock solid."
He also expressed hopes for greater defense industry cooperation with Europe.
The government has proposed NT$1.25 trillion (US$39.81 billion) more in defense spending over eight years that would fund, among other things, a multi-layered air defense system dubbed the "T-Dome."
Lai said he is confident that the Legislative Yuan would approve the special defense budget to fund crucial defense purchases, including weapons from the US.
"In a democratic society, every political party is ultimately accountable to the people," he said.
Ahead of US President Donald Trump's planned meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in Beijing in April, Lai said that Taiwan welcomes any talks that helped maintain the “status quo.”
"We believe President Trump is undertaking a difficult peace-building effort, which entails safeguarding US interests and deterring Chinese expansionism in the short term," Lai said.
The US does not need "to frame Taiwan as a bargaining chip in any discussions with China," he added.
"In the context of US-China trade competition, China seeks far more from the US than the US does from China," he said.
South Korea has adjusted its electronic arrival card system to no longer list Taiwan as a part of China, a move that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said would help facilitate exchanges between the two sides. South Korea previously listed “Taiwan” as “Taiwan (China)” in the drop-down menus of its online arrival card system, where people had to fill out where they came from and their next destination. The ministry had requested South Korea make a revision and said it would change South Korea’s name on Taiwan’s online immigration system from “Republic of Korea” to “Korea (South),” should the issue not be
Tainan, Taipei and New Taipei City recorded the highest fines nationwide for illegal accommodations in the first quarter of this year, with fines issued in the three cities each exceeding NT$7 million (US$220,639), Tourism Administration data showed. Among them, Taipei had the highest number of illegal short-term rental units, with 410. There were 3,280 legally registered hotels nationwide in the first quarter, down by 14 properties, or 0.43 percent, from a year earlier, likely indicating operators exiting the market, the agency said. However, the number of unregistered properties rose to 1,174, including 314 illegal hotels and 860 illegal short-term rental
Both sides of the Taiwan Strait share a political foundation based on the “1992 consensus” and opposition to Taiwanese independence, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) today said during her meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). Both sides of the Strait should plan and build institutionalized and sustainable mechanisms for dialogue and cooperation based on that foundation to make peaceful development across the Strait irreversible, she said. Peace is a shared moral value across the Strait, and both sides should move beyond political confrontation to seek institutionalized solutions to prevent war, she said. Mutually beneficial cross-strait relations are what the
ECONOMIC COERCION: Such actions are often inconsistently applied, sometimes resumed, and sometimes just halted, the Presidential Office spokeswoman said The government backs healthy and orderly cross-strait exchanges, but such arrangements should not be made with political conditions attached and never be used as leverage for political maneuvering or partisan agendas, Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks after China earlier in the day announced 10 new “incentive measures” for Taiwan, following a landmark meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairwoman Cheng Li-wun (鄭麗文) in Beijing on Friday. The measures, unveiled by China’s Xinhua news agency, include plans to resume individual travel by residents of Shanghai and China’s Fujian
RSS