President Lai receives former US deputy national security advisor

2025/02/19

President Lai Ching-te met with Matthew Pottinger, former U.S. deputy national security advisor and Mark Montgomery, retired U.S. Rear Admiral, Feb. 17 at the Presidential Office in Taipei City.

Lai recalled that Pottinger and Ivan Kanapathy came to Taiwan to launch their new book “The Boiling Moat” in June 2024. He added that the book, soon to be released in Taiwan in Mandarin, offers observations from U.S. experts regarding U.S.-China-Taiwan relations and advice for the strengthening of Taiwan’s national defense, security, and overall resilience.

The president noted that on that occasion Pottinger and Kanapathy exchanged extensive views on Taiwan-U.S. relations and regional affairs; and that the latter is now serving on the White House National Security Council. 

Lai noted that it was Montgomery’s fourth visit to Taiwan and that the retired U.S. Rear Admiral has long paid close attention to Taiwan-related issues. The president said that he looked forward to an in-depth discussion with the two men on the future direction of Taiwan-U.S. relations and cooperation. 

Emphasizing the concept of peace through strength, Lai said that bolstering defense capability and fortifying defense demonstrates effective deterrence to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and around the world.

Pottinger congratulated President Lai on his one-year election anniversary and on the state of the economy, which he characterized as good. In addition, he noted that Lai had pledged to allocate an equivalent of over 3 percent of gross domestic product for the national defense budget, which is equal to that of the U.S. and that it was a good starting point for both countries to build deterrence. 


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