Office of the President Republic of China(Taiwan)

On the morning of October 13, President Tsai Ing-wen met with participants in the 2023 Yushan Forum. In remarks, President Tsai thanked the participants for their keen interest in issues concerning Taiwan, and for providing valuable insights and advice at the Yushan Forum. The president noted that Taiwan will continue to do all it can to uphold regional peace and stability, and that we will participate in international affairs more actively than ever and deepen partnerships with other nations. She also said that we look forward to working with even more like-minded countries so as to jointly contribute to peace, stability, and prosperity around the world.

A translation of President Tsai's remarks follows:

I want to begin by thanking all of our guests for traveling here to attend the Yushan Forum with me earlier this week. Previously, I met with former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Kelly Craft via videoconference. I also attended a panel with Dr. Ralph A. Cossa during a transit stop in the US. I am truly delighted to see both of them again today. And I look forward to exchanging views with all of you.

Ambassador Craft once carried a stuffed Formosan black bear into the UN headquarters before recording a video encouraging Taiwanese students to stand firmly by their democratic beliefs. At this year's Yushan Forum, Ambassador Craft once again conveyed her high regard for peace in the Indo-Pacific region and for the international order.

I know that all of our distinguished guests share a keen interest in issues concerning Taiwan. I thank you for the valuable insights and advice you provided at the Yushan Forum.

In recent years, a growing number of countries have publicly emphasized the importance of peace across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan will continue to do all it can to uphold regional peace and stability. We will participate in international affairs more actively than ever and deepen partnerships with other nations.

During the Yushan Forum, I talked about the successes of the New Southbound Policy. We have actively expanded finance- and healthcare-related operations in partner countries and promoted exchanges in education and technology. And we look forward to working with even more like-minded countries so as to jointly contribute to peace, stability, and prosperity around the world.

In closing, I welcome all of you once again, and wish you a pleasant and productive visit. 

Ambassador Craft then delivered remarks, saying that it is an honor to be in our country and certainly an honor to have celebrated Taiwan's National Day and to have played a small role in the 2023 Yushan Forum, her genuine gratitude to the president and our country being very deep. She then said that this forum, which the president initiated, will stand as a testament to the vision and wisdom with which she has led our people for seven years.

Ambassador Craft noted that they have been challenging years for the world and for Taiwan, but that the president and Taiwan have risen to the challenges we have faced. She said that Taiwan was a model to the world of how to take care of its people through the COVID pandemic, and that Taiwan was an example to the world of how an innovative, ingenious, and generous people can make a contribution to solving global problems out of all proportion to its size.

Ambassador Craft said that the president has led Taiwan at a time of growing pressure and threat from the People's Republic of China. Taiwan, the ambassador said, has resisted that pressure and that threat by showing it will not be shaken in its commitment to preserve the status quo. She stated that Taiwan does not seek conflict and does not seek change, and that Taiwan seeks peace and prosperity, adding that the only threat to the status quo, the only threat to prosperity, the only threat to peace is from Beijing. She said that Taiwan, under the president's leadership, has shown that to be so, and it has shown that it will overcome the threat, preserving peace and increasing prosperity for all. She then said that the president has made excellence seem routine, and that her dedication and integrity are a lodestar for all who seek to preserve freedom.

Ambassador Craft said that she is here now simply as an American citizen, speaking for no one but herself, and her experiencing this day's honor as one of the full-heart moments of her private life, with no diminishment of the energy she brought with her message as permanent representative to the UN. She said she is confident that Americans will stand with Taiwan, noting that when Russia invaded Ukraine, Americans helped Ukrainians throw them back and begin to liberate their people and land, and that after Hamas conducted an unspeakable act of terrorist evil, America is rushing to help Israel. She added that she is confident that Americans will stand by those two peoples despite the rancorous debates on Capitol Hill because it is the right thing to do, and that America will do the right thing.

Ambassador Craft said that America will stand by Ukraine and Israel because an attack on free people is an attack on all free people, and that America will not abandon its allies and partners, because abandoning one is abandoning them all. Saying that Americans know this in their hearts, she expressed her confidence that just as America will help Ukraine and Israel, so America will be here for Taiwan.

Ambassador Craft then emphasized that she has no doubt, and neither should we, that freedom is the strongest force in the world, and that it is what dictators and terrorists most fear. But, she added, they will fail, and freedom will prevail, and Taiwan will prevail.

Participants in the meeting included Ambassador Craft, former Deputy Secretary General of NATO Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo, former New Zealand Minister of Trade Tim Groser, Member of the Indian Parliament Sujeet Kumar, former US White House National Security Council Deputy Senior Director for Asian Affairs Ivan Kanapathy, President Emeritus of the Pacific Forum Cossa, Director General of the National Maritime Foundation Pradeep Chauhan, and former Undersecretary of the Department of Health Kenneth Hartigan-Go of the Republic of the Philippines.