President Tsai meets experts from US Foundation for Defense of Democracies
On the morning of June 15, President Tsai Ing-wen met with a delegation of military and security experts from the US-based Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). President Tsai stated that "Taiwan" is now a key word in the international community, and that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are key to upholding the international order. The president noted that Taiwan has continued to bolster our self-defense capabilities and has deepened cooperation with like-minded partners through various mechanisms in the hope of jointly establishing a resilient democratic front with the international community, and thereby securing global supply chains and creating economic prosperity together.
A translation of President Tsai's remarks follows:
I am pleased to see you again, [FDD China Program] Chairman [Matt] Pottinger. The FDD is an important think tank based in Washington, DC. It is highly influential in the area of public policy and has long maintained frequent interactions with Taiwan.
The distinguished guests here today are experts on military matters, national security, and regional affairs. I believe that your visit will not only help increase mutual exchanges on national security, cybersecurity, and societal resilience, but also further deepen Taiwan-US relations.
"Taiwan" is now a key word in the international community. Peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait are key to upholding the international order. This is especially so as the expanding authoritarianism that we currently face threatens global democracy. Standing on the frontline in defense of democracy, Taiwan has continued to bolster our self-defense capabilities in recent years to ensure national security. We have also deepened cooperation with like-minded partners through various mechanisms.
For example, the Global Cooperation and Training Framework is an important platform for exchanges with other democracies. And earlier this month, the first agreement under the Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st-Century Trade was signed. This is the most comprehensive trade agreement between our countries in the past 40 years. On this solid foundation, we will continue to explore more opportunities for cooperation. We hope to jointly establish a resilient democratic front with the international community to secure global supply chains and create economic prosperity together.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the FDD for publishing numerous articles advocating for international support of Taiwan. Chairman Pottinger is a longstanding friend of Taiwan. He paid close attention to cross-strait issues when he served as deputy national security advisor. And even after stepping down from that role, he has tirelessly advocated for support for Taiwan across all sectors of the US.
Taiwan is a force for good in the international community. We will continue to strive for regional peace and prosperity.
In closing, I welcome you once again and look forward to our discussion.
Chairman Pottinger then delivered remarks in Mandarin, thanking President Tsai for meeting them and offering his gratitude to the government and the people of Taiwan for the warm welcome his delegation received this week. He mentioned that some of his colleagues are in Taiwan for the first time and have been raving about the natural beauty of this brilliant island, its delicious food, and especially the openness and kindness of its people.
Chairman Pottinger said that his delegation consists of American and Israeli combat veterans and national security practitioners who have come to exchange views with Taiwan government officials, military officers, and private citizens, explaining that they have come in a spirit of humility to learn from Taiwan and to be helpful where possible. They have had detailed discussions this week, he said, and have exchanged views about the lessons democracies are drawing from recent wars waged by aggressors in the Middle East and now in Europe.
Stating that the lessons of war are written in blood, Chairman Pottinger said that citizens of free societies have a special duty to study those lessons carefully. Ukraine offers some important lessons for Taiwan, he said, the most important being that deterrence is far preferable to war. On the issue of how to maintain effective deterrence and sustain peace and prosperity for Taiwan, he offered the formula of "capability times credibility." "Capability," he explained, means deep stores of asymmetrical and affordable munitions, realistic training and smart tactics, and a large number of small, mobile, dispersed, precision, lethal weapons.
"Credibility," he said, refers to that special blend of courage, confidence, and the will to fight, adding that the soldiers and citizens of Ukraine show us those qualities every day on the battlefield. When it comes to demonstrating credibility during peacetime, he said, Israel can provide some inspiration. Chairman Pottinger noted that Israel has less than half of Taiwan's population and lacks the seas and mountains that protect Taiwan, and yet Israel has won every war it has fought and has deterred invasion attempts over the last 50 years, despite facing numerically superior and technologically sophisticated foes like Iran.
Chairman Pottinger said that from what they have seen this week, they believe that Taiwan, backed by powerful fellow democracies, is assembling the ingredients to safeguard its peace and security, even in the face of the Chinese Communist Party's militarism and threats.
Chairman Pottinger expressed his belief that the secret ingredient that can catalyze all the others into long-term deterrence is culture. Here, too, he added, Israel provides some useful lessons. In Israel, he explained, young men and women participate in compulsory military service, and reservists receive frequent and realistic training, thereby maintaining robust civil defense capabilities. Military service is held in the highest esteem across Israeli society, he said, as Israeli men and women compete to serve in the most elite units the way Americans compete to enter Ivy League schools. He added that soldiers, through their service, acquire leadership and technical skills that enrich Israel's economy and its prosperous technology sector.
Representing the delegation and the FDD, Chairman Pottinger congratulated Taiwan for its steps to reenergize the culture of national service in its citizenry, through policies such as reinstating a one-year term of mandatory military service. He asserted that this is a step toward building a culture, as well as an ecosystem, that will enhance deterrence, ensuring that Taiwan remains a guardian at the frontline of free and democratic society.