President Tsai opens Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue

2021/12/16

President Tsai Ing-wen opened the 2021 Taiwan-US-Japan Trilateral Indo-Pacific Security Dialogue Dec. 14 in Taipei City, reaffirming the government’s commitment to working with like-minded partners in promoting a secure, peaceful, free and open Indo-Pacific region.
 
According to Tsai, no amount of external pressure can shake Taiwan’s commitment to freedom, human rights, the rule of law, and particularly partnering with like-minded democracies around the world.

The country has proven it matters to the region and the world despite its size, the president said, citing its donations of essential materials and equipment to the international community to help slow the spread of COVID-19, which were reciprocated by vaccine donations from the U.S., Japan, the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Lithuania.
 
Over the past few months, delegations from the European Parliament, France, Slovakia, and the Baltic States have visited Taiwan to discuss further collaboration and demonstrate solidarity with their democratic partner, Tsai said.
 
Last week, representatives from Taiwan’s public and civic sectors took part in the Summit for Democracy hosted by the U.S., the president said. Minister without Portfolio Audrey Tang and Hsiao Bi-khim, head of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the U.S., shared Taiwan’s story of resilience and achieving democracy, she added.
 
Tsai also took the opportunity to thank Shinzo Abe, former Japan prime minister, and Scott Busby, acting principal deputy assistant secretary of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor at the U.S. Department of State, for participating in the dialogue.
 
Other high-profile attendees at the event included Foreign Minister Jaushieh Joseph Wu; and Wellington Koo, secretary-general of the National Security Council.
 
Organized by the locally-based Prospect Foundation, the U.S.-headquartered Center for New American Security, and the Japan Institute of International Affairs, the daylong event broached an array of issues, like challenges and opportunities in the Indo-Pacific, the importance of cooperation among like-minded partners on regional security and the restructuring of supply chains amid coronavirus. 


Source: Taiwan Today (https://taiwantoday.tw/index.php)