President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) on Monday urged European nations to support liberal, democratic Taiwan at a time when a rising China is affecting the global landscape.
In a recorded speech at a seminar held at the European Parliament in Brussels, Tsai said China is undermining the “status quo” across the Taiwan Strait and its rapid rise is changing the global order in place since the end of World War II.
At the opening of the Taiwan-sponsored seminar titled “China Factor: Resistance is Futile? — Taiwan as a Case Study,” Tsai said in a video that Taiwan is aware of the challenges posed by China and that its actions have “not served to drive Taiwan to Beijing, but encouraged us to look at where our friends and partners are, in countries that share our values and interests.”
Photo: CNA
Since 2016, China has stepped up its pressure on democratic Taiwan and tried hard to squeeze its economy and international space, Tsai said.
China has been working to destabilize Taiwan and undermine Taiwanese trust in the nation’s democratic institutions, she said.
However, China’s actions have only strengthened Taiwan’s resolve that freedom and democracy, not fear, would continue to determine the future of the nation’s 23 million people, she said.
“At this critical juncture in human history, Taiwan understands, better than any country in the world, how important it is that those values survive,” Tsai said. “As a small democracy trying to engage with the world’s most powerful non-democratic country, Taiwan is resilient and determined to safeguard our precious democracy.”
However, these challenges are not for Taiwan alone and the nation is seeking support from friends and partners that share the same values, she said.
“We do need your support. A liberal democratic order can only survive if like-minded countries, including our European partners, work together for the greater good,” she said. “I’m calling on all like-minded countries to display the same spirit that led to the founding of a union across Europe in 1951: the clear-eyed sense that only by coming together can we protect our values and our future,” she said.
The speech, which lasted about 4 minutes, 30 seconds, received plenty of applause from the audience at the seminar, which was hosted by the European Federation of Taiwanese Associations.
In response to Tsai’s speech, Ivan Stefanec, a Slovak member of the European Parliament, said the EU and Taiwan have forged close ties and that the union should pay more attention to democratic development in Taiwan and Asia.
He called for more exchanges between Taiwan and the EU in economics, education and culture.
Stefanec, who has visited Taiwan several times and is familiar with cross-strait relations, said China’s rise is a very important issue not only in global economics, but also in international politics, so the EU needs to keep an eye on the latest developments.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS