Taiwan is to boost investment in national defense to resist authoritarian coercion with a "David versus Goliath" spirit, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday in his speech at a dinner for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
Taiwan would learn from Israel's resolve and capability to staunchly defend its homeland, as appeasement is never the solution to containing authoritarianism, Lai said.
Bringing “peace through strength” is the way to overcome changes and challenges, he said, calling it a principle long upheld by Taiwan, the US and Israel.
Photo provided by the Presidential Office
The nation is to boost defense spending, strengthen the capacity of the domestic national defense industry and build a “T-Dome” system, a rigorous air defense system modeled after Israel's Iron Dome and the US' Golden Dome, he said.
Taiwan is also to procure weaponry and technology to enhance defense capabilities, he said, expressing hope for the committee’s support and assistance.
Apart from national security and diplomatic cooperation, economic investment is a key area where the three countries can strengthen their cooperation during the current global supply chain restructuring, he said.
He expressed a desire for further cooperation with Israel under US President Donald Trump's AI Action Plan.
Taiwan could leverage its strengths as a semiconductor industry hub, combining US and Israeli research and development resources and experience, to deepen cooperation in fields such as semiconductors, ICT and digital security, he said.
Taiwan and the US are firm partners who share the values of democracy and freedom, he said, adding that he was pleased to see the deepening relationship between Taiwan, the US and Israel with bipartisan support.
He also expressed relief over the release of Israeli hostages, calling a ceasefire and the hostages' release the most important development in more than two years, a significant diplomatic achievement for Trump and a major step toward peace in the Middle East.
While Taiwan, the US and Israel are geographically distant, they are on the frontline against authoritarianism, upholding the fundamental values of civilization based on a firm belief in freedom, human rights and the rule of law, he said.
He urged the US, Israel and other allies to continue to be aware of the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait and its role in global peace and prosperity.
Taiwan has received more than US$70 million in royalties as of the end of last year from developing the F-16V jet as countries worldwide purchase or upgrade to this popular model, government and military officials said on Saturday. Taiwan funded the development of the F-16V jet and ended up the sole investor as other countries withdrew from the program. Now the F-16V is increasingly popular and countries must pay Taiwan a percentage in royalties when they purchase new F-16V aircraft or upgrade older F-16 models. The next five years are expected to be the peak for these royalties, with Taiwan potentially earning
STAY IN YOUR LANE: As the US and Israel attack Iran, the ministry has warned China not to overstep by including Taiwanese citizens in its evacuation orders The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday rebuked a statement by China’s embassy in Israel that it would evacuate Taiwanese holders of Chinese travel documents from Israel amid the latter’s escalating conflict with Iran. Tensions have risen across the Middle East in the wake of US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran beginning Saturday. China subsequently issued an evacuation notice for its citizens. In a news release, the Chinese embassy in Israel said holders of “Taiwan compatriot permits (台胞證)” issued to Taiwanese nationals by Chinese authorities for travel to China — could register for evacuation to Egypt. In Taipei, the ministry yesterday said Taiwan
Taiwan is awaiting official notification from the US regarding the status of the Agreement on Reciprocal Trade (ART) after the US Supreme Court ruled US President Donald Trump's global tariffs unconstitutional. Speaking to reporters before a legislative hearing today, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said that Taiwan's negotiation team remains focused on ensuring that the bilateral trade deal remains intact despite the legal challenge to Trump's tariff policy. "The US has pledged to notify its trade partners once the subsequent administrative and legal processes are finalized, and that certainly includes Taiwan," Cho said when asked about opposition parties’ doubts that the ART was
If China chose to invade Taiwan tomorrow, it would only have to sever three undersea fiber-optic cable clusters to cause a data blackout, Jason Hsu (許毓仁), a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and former Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a US security panel yesterday. In a Taiwan contingency, cable disruption would be one of the earliest preinvasion actions and the signal that escalation had begun, he said, adding that Taiwan’s current cable repair capabilities are insufficient. The US-China Economic and Security Review Commission (USCC) yesterday held a hearing on US-China Competition Under the Sea, with Hsu speaking on
RSS