Democratic nations must band together to counter consolidating authoritarian powers and build “non-red” supply chains, President William Lai (賴清德) said at the opening of the two-day Halifax International Security Forum (HFX) yesterday.
Taiwan occupies a critical position in the first island chain, safeguarding national sovereignty, maintaining a democratic way of life, and defending peace and security in the Taiwan Strait while facing authoritarian threats directly, Lai said at the event, which is being held in Taipei for the first time.
Taiwan will uphold “peace through strength,” he added.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will not provoke conflicts and will maintain the “status quo” in the Taiwan Strait, while being willing to engage in dialogue with China under the principles of equality and dignity, he said.
The government has proposed increasing defense spending to more than 3 percent of GDP and established the Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee last year, which is to pursue global peace by deepening relations with democratic allies and improving their defense resilience, he said.
Technological strength, being the backbone of national defense, is key to deterring the expansion of authoritarianism, while it is also crucial to improve economic resilience by boosting industrial development, he said.
Photo: Ann Wang, Reuters
As a country with a leading position in the semiconductor industry, Taiwan is willing to work with democratic allies to build a “non-red supply chain” to pursue mutual economic benefits and maintain global peace, he said.
HFX president Peter van Praagh said that the forum being held in Taipei demonstrated the support of the international community for Taiwan.
“Taiwan is a vital democracy whose continued freedom and security is important not only to the people of Taiwan, but to the security of the entire world,” Van Praagh told a news conference before the event.
It is the first time that the forum is being held outside North America since it was launched in 2009 and it is not a coincidence that it is held in Taiwan, which is a vibrant democratic country facing potential aggression from its neighbor using “gray zone” tactics, Van Praagh said.
The aim of the forum is to explore how international society should cope with the situation and most importantly what Taiwan can do, he said.
“Through HFX Taipei, I wanted to bring democracies to Taipei to see and understand why Taiwan deserves the international community’s friendship and support,” Van Praagh added.
He thanked United Microelectronics Corp (聯電) founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠), who also gave a speech, for his support.
Asked how US President Donald Trump’s stance toward the Ukraine war could affect Taiwan, Tsao said that Taiwan could unite and demonstrate its determination to safeguard democracy, despite not being able to predict what Trump would do.
The US will not help a country where 60 percent of its people support unification, so Taiwan should “help itself before expecting help from others,” Tsao said.
The international society views Taiwan as a whole, despite its internal differences, he said, adding that no political struggle should sacrifice Taiwan’s sovereignty and international status.
In his speech, Tsao thanked the forum for excluding China’s participation and not bowing to its pressure by including Taiwan.
The event features on-and-off-the-record speeches by former government officials and academics from more than 70 countries, including former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Akie Abe, former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe’s widow, on issues concerning democracy, security, resilience and partnership, the organizers said.
HFX is a Washington-based organization that has run the Halifax International Security Forum in Nova Scotia, Canada, every year since 2009.
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