Taiwan Vice President highlights Taiwan’s efforts to strengthen defences against China

Taiwanese Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim underscored Taiwan’s efforts to bolster its defences against China, Taiwan News reported. She made these remarks during her address at the Halifax International Security Forum in Taipei on Friday.

Hsiao said that the forum’s decision to hold its first-ever session in Taiwan demonstrates the global community’s recognition of Taiwan’s efforts to promote democracy, freedom and peace in the Indo-Pacific region. She said that it also places greater responsibility on Taiwan to protect these values.

Taiwan’s Vice President reminded the people that vigilance is necessary and peace cannot be taken for granted. She said there is much work to be done and stressed that there is urgency for action.

Hsiao Bi-khim called “values do matter” and democracy the superior system of governance that “empowers humanity to strive for peace.” She emphasised the need to take a cautious and pragmatic approach to countering totalitarianism and aggression, according to Taiwan News report.

She spoke about Taiwan President Lai Ching-te’s “Four Pillars of Peace” strategy which “focuses on strengthening Taiwan’s defense, building economic security, enhancing partnerships with democratic nations, exercising steady and principled leadership in cross-strait relations.”

Hsiao said Taiwan is placing the first of these pillars into action by increasing its defence budget and implementing defence reforms. These reforms include increased professional conscription, reservist training, prioritizing asymmetric weapon acquisitions, and creating a defence innovation office.

She stated that Taiwan deals with cyber attacks, cognitive warfare, and diplomatic bullying from China aimed to compromise the country’s economic and political security weakening public faith in democracy. She said that the best deterrent to such aggression is to increase society’s commitment to self-defence.

Taiwan Vice President said Lai Ching-te has formed the “Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience Committee,” which has the goal to bolster energy, cyber, financial, communications, and infrastructure resilience of Taiwan. She mentioned that the Mandarin word for “crisis” comprises the words “danger” and “opportunity.”

Hsiao said that she has learned “tactical lessons” from cats to deal with international challenges with agility. She stressed that there are times when one must remain concealed while at other times, one must reach to great heights. She highlighted the need to tread softly and cautiously but to keep “our claws sharpened and prepared for a good defense and to further hunt and pounce on opportunities of prey.”

She stressed that Taiwan’s strength is not merely a diplomatic slogan and termed it “realistic and indispensable requirement for sustaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.” She said that “an investment in Taiwan’s strength is an investment in peace,” Taiwan News reported.

The Taiwan-China issue is a complex and longstanding geopolitical conflict centred on Taiwan’s sovereignty. Taiwan, officially known as the Republic of China (ROC), operates its own government, military, and economy, functioning as a de facto independent state. However, China considers Taiwan a breakaway province and insists on the “One China” policy, which asserts that there is only one China, with Beijing as its capital.