President Tsai receives Atlantic Council delegation

2023/08/28

President Tsai Ing-wen received a senior delegation from U.S. think tank Atlantic Council at the Presidential Office Aug. 24 in Taipei City, pledging to continue deepening cooperation with Taiwan’s like-minded partners to strengthen democratic resilience around the world.
 
Led by Dalia Grybauskaite, former president of Lithuania, the group includes Mark Esper, former U.S. secretary of defense; Matthew Kroenig, vice president and senior director of the council’s Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security; and Markus Garlauskas, director of the center’s Indo-Pacific Security Initiative.
 
According to Tsai, exchanges between Taiwan and Lithuania have grown closer across many areas in recent years. Both sides have established representative offices and undertaken mutual visits while continuing to expand cross-sector cooperation, she said.
 
Global challenges in the past three years, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, have highlighted the importance of collaboration among members of the free world, the president continued. Given the authoritarian expansion, investment and cooperation in economic affairs and trade, as well as stable and resilient supply chains, are critical for democracies, she added.
 
Tsai said Taiwan’s trade ties with the U.S. and Europe are going from strength to strength, citing the first agreement signed earlier this year under the Taiwan-U.S. Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, the Taiwan-Europe Connectivity Initiative announced in 2022 and the government’s investment and credit funds for Central and Eastern Europe that seek to enhance partnership in strategic industries such as biotechnology and electric vehicles.
 
The president also thanked the country’s friends in the U.S. and Europe for supporting cross-strait peace and stability. Taiwan will continue to bolster cooperation with its partners to ensure a free, open and prosperous Indo-Pacific, she said.
 
In response, Grybauskaite said Taiwan and Lithuania are both small but proud countries with large neighbors who are not always friendly. Suppression and intimidation from large powers only gives smaller nations like Taiwan and Lithuania the strength to protect their people, she added.
 
The former president said she is thankful for the opportunity to visit and learn how fast Taiwan is developing. She hopes the people of Taiwan can continue to create their country as they want, with nobody dictating how they should proceed.


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