President William Lai (賴清德) gave a speech at the 2026 Yushan Forum today promoting collaboration with regional and international partners to strengthen democracy, supply chain resilience and economic prosperity.
The forum’s ninth edition, titled “Indo-Pacific Partnership Prospects: Taiwan’s Values, Technology and Resilience,” is being held today and tomorrow at the Grand Mayfull in Taipei, organized by the Taiwan-Asia Exchange Foundation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Government and industry leaders, academics and experts, as well as innovators and leaders from around the world are attending, the Yushan Forum said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Lai spoke at the opening ceremony this morning, joined by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Lech Walesa, the former president of Poland.
Without unity, we cannot have freedom, Lai said.
Only by uniting with democratic partners can Taiwan stand together and uphold the “umbrella of democracy” to achieve global peace and prosperity, he said.
Taiwan has the resolve to maintain regional peace and stability and is willing to strengthen its deterrence to achieve peace through strength, he added.
The forum demonstrates Taiwan’s determination to build on the achievements of the New Southbound Policy and continue expanding and deepening global partnerships, he said.
The New Southbound Policy, launched in 2016 by former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文), was designed to enhance trade and exchanges between Taiwan and 18 nations in the Indo-Pacific region and away from China.
Moreover, Taiwan has significantly reduced its reliance on Chinese markets, dropping from an 83.8 percent share of Taiwanese outbound investments in 2010 to just 3.75 percent last year, a historic low, he said.
In the past decade, Taiwanese investment in the EU has increased 650 percent, with the US becoming Taiwan’s largest export market last year, he said.
Last year, exports to the US rose 78 percent, while exports to New Southbound Policy countries rose by 30.5 percent, he said.
Collaborating in areas from democracy and economy to defense and technology, Taiwan and its partners can strengthen non-China supply chain economic resilience, he said.
Taiwan is home to world-leading advanced semiconductor manufacturing processes, strong IC design capabilities and is investing in the AI era by researching and developing silicon photonics, quantum technology and robotics, he added.
Meanwhile, Taiwan is raising its defense budget this year to 3.32 percent of GDP, aiming for 5 percent by 2030 in line with NATO standards, and is investing in asymmetric warfare capabilities and whole-of-society resilience, he said.
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