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2023-03-21

中文

President Tsai confers decoration on former White House National Security Advisor Robert O'Brien

On the afternoon of March 21, President Tsai Ing-wen presented United States Ambassador Robert O'Brien, former White House national security advisor, with the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon, in recognition of his contributions to Taiwan-US relations. In remarks, President Tsai said that interactions between Taiwan and the US have grown closer than ever in recent years. She noted that we have continued to create even more niches for economic and trade ties to flourish and that we are striving together to advance prosperity and development in the Indo-Pacific region. President Tsai also thanked the US for paying close attention to issues concerning Taiwan's security, and said that we anticipate that Taiwan and the US can continue to deepen our partnership through security cooperation and economic and trade exchanges.

A translation of President Tsai's remarks follows:

I welcome Ambassador O'Brien as he leads this delegation to Taiwan. Our distinguished guests have all been good friends of Taiwan for many years. They continue to pay close attention to Taiwan-related issues from their different roles. I want to thank you all for making this trip, which demonstrates bipartisan US support for Taiwan.

During his time at the White House as US national security advisor, Ambassador O'Brien successfully promoted visits to Taiwan by members of the US Cabinet. He also oversaw the declassification of the Six Assurances and the strengthening of Taiwan-US economic and trade cooperation. These were important milestones in advancing Taiwan-US relations.

Today, by presenting Ambassador O'Brien with the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon, we recognize his many contributions to Taiwan-US relations. On behalf of the people of Taiwan, I want to extend our most sincere gratitude.

The Global Taiwan Institute (GTI) is the first and only Washington-based think tank dedicated exclusively to exploring Taiwan-US affairs. This trip to Taiwan by the GTI Task Force on US-Taiwan Relations demonstrates more than ever the crucial role that the institute plays in Taiwan-US exchanges.

In recent years, interactions between Taiwan and the US have grown closer than ever. In addition to actively promoting the Taiwan-US Initiative on 21st-Century Trade, we have continued to create even more niches for economic and trade ties to flourish, including such mechanisms as the Economic Prosperity Partnership Dialogue (EPPD) and Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA). Together, we are striving to advance prosperity and development in the Indo-Pacific region.

We also thank the US for paying close attention to issues concerning Taiwan's security. In the face of expanding authoritarianism, democratic partners must stand even more united, jointly safeguarding regional peace and stability. Ambassador O'Brien frequently cites President Reagan's maxim of "peace through strength." We profoundly agree with this sentiment.

Indeed, in recent years, Taiwan has increased its national defense budget and enhanced its asymmetric warfare capabilities. In addition to establishing the All-Out Defense Mobilization Agency to integrate reserve and civil defense resources, we are drawing on the strengths of multiple government ministries and agencies to combat disinformation and hybrid warfare.

Also, starting from next year, Taiwan is reinstating a one-year term of mandatory military service. This will enhance our self-defense capabilities and demonstrates our determination to safeguard democracy. Through all of these efforts, we are implementing the idea that peace depends on national defense, and national defense depends on the people of Taiwan.

Looking ahead, we anticipate that Taiwan and the US can continue to deepen our partnership through security cooperation and economic and trade exchanges. In closing, I once again thank you all for your visit. I very much look forward to hearing and discussing your insights in just a few moments. I wish you all a fruitful and pleasant trip.

Ambassador O'Brien then delivered remarks, a transcript of which follows:

Thank you, Madam President, Excellencies. I am deeply humbled to receive the Order of Brilliant Star with Special Grand Cordon. It is an incredible honor for me and for my entire family. Your government, Madam President, has rolled out the red carpet for our delegation. Foreign Minister [Joseph] Wu (吳釗燮), my good friend; Ambassador Bi-khim [Hsiao] (蕭美琴) in Washington; and the entire ministry of foreign affairs and your government have provided us with extraordinary support. And the hospitality here is unmatched. I have traveled around the world many times to many countries, and the hospitality extended by Taiwan is amazing, Madam President, thank you. And that is on behalf of the entire delegation.

So, our delegation is combined with ambassadors, generals, experts, former executive office officials, and we are here in Taiwan to listen. Our work will culminate in a report that will be published this summer that will focus on how we can improve the already good relationship between Taiwan, the Republic of China, and the United States of America. And our countries maintain a strong relationship, but it is a long relationship. It goes back to even before modern times, the modern relationship, to the Churchill, Roosevelt, Chiang Kai-shek summit in World War II that resulted in the Cairo Declaration. And that relationship continues to grow stronger even today.

As you kindly mentioned, Madam President, at the NSC we sought to improve the relationship between Taiwan and the United States and to promote a free and open Indo Pacific that our good friend Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe, Abe-san, talked about, and gave us that term. And we had a great team working on that at the NSC: Alex Gray, Matthew Pottinger, and Allison Hooker and Ivan Kanapathy, both of whom are here today, and many others, and they share in this recognition.

Madam President, you kindly noted some of the things that we did to bolster the relationship, and I will not repeat those, but I will also mention that we got $18 billion in arms sales approved for Taiwan, including harpoon anti-ship missiles and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, among many other systems. And we need to get those systems delivered now and not wait for them. And I am happy to say that in important ways, my successor Jake Sullivan, the current American national security advisor, and the Biden administration are following through on many of the policies that we started.

And Madam President, I want to thank you for something personal that happened at the outset of COVID, and Foreign Minister Wu as well. At the outset of the pandemic, we didn't have enough PPE in America – it was being used at hospitals and medical facilities, but we needed PPE and facemasks in the White House and we had nowhere to get it. And then a shipment came in from Taiwan. And we were able to put the men and women who work in the White House Situation Room on our crowded watch floor, we were able to give them masks, and help to give the First Family masks. They all said "Made in Taiwan" on them. And we appreciated that very generous thing that you did to help us do our job safely at a time when we did not want to take our own PPE away from the medical professionals. So, thank you, Madam President. That meant a lot to us.

So, Taiwan is a shining example of what democracy, the rule of law, and individual liberty can mean to a country. But unfortunately, as you pointed out, Madam President, there are autocracies and totalitarian regimes around the world that do not value those same principles of freedom that we believe in.

But we know, as you pointed out, Madam President, that a strong defense deters aggression. Thus, I am pleased to see that Taiwan is spending more on its security, and, as you pointed out, is lengthening the conscription enlistment term, and is deploying anti-access/area denial platforms, asymmetric platforms, that will turn Taiwan into a porcupine and make it stronger and safer. Now, should aggression take place by a totalitarian regime against Taiwan – and it is our hope and our prayer that it never does, I want you to know that I believe that the United States will stand with Taiwan. Now, President [Donald] Trump made this very clear to his counterparts, and President [Joe] Biden had said four times publicly that if Taiwan is attacked, America will stand by Taiwan.

For Lo-Mari [O'Brien] and me this is personal, because our two daughters both serve as young officers in the United States Armed Forces. So, we know that that commitment has special meaning for us as parents of soldiers and airmen and for many American families. And let me be very clear, because I want to make this statement so that those who would twist our words and engage in propaganda and misinformation cannot do so. America is not attempting to change the status quo with respect to Taiwan, not President Trump, not President Biden. Madam President, what America and its partners have made clear is that the world will not go back to a century or more ago, when a large neighbor could invade its smaller neighbor for glory, or for territorial expansion, or for economic gain. In the not too distant past, we watched Saddam Hussein's Iraq invade Kuwait; we watched the Junta in Argentina invade the Falklands; and sadly, more recently, we've watched Putin's Russia invade Ukraine.

But Madam President, what we know is that those wars did not work out very well for the first two regimes. The Junta and Saddam are in the dustbin of history. And it is not going to work out well for Vladimir Putin either. Putin's ambitions have led to muddy fields full of dead young Russian soldiers, a degraded Russian military, Moscow having to go hat in hand to the Iranians, to Tehran, for weapons, and all while its economy has been cut off from the West. And for those who would think that countries of the West and the free world would stand idly by, that invasion led to an expansion of NATO with Sweden and Finland that no one expected. Now, Russia is even at risk of becoming a vassal state to its eastern neighbor. And I expect the 1860 Treaty of Peking will be renegotiated by the Secretary General of the Communist Party of China, and at Russia's expense.

So Ukrainians inspire us with their bravery and their determination in defending their homes. But I believe that the people of Taiwan would do the exact same thing if they faced similar circumstances.

Now, Madam President, you know this: the United States and Taiwan want peace; and we pray for peace in this beautiful region. Peace results in the free flow of commerce and culture and prosperity and in friendship. But our adversaries must know that we will never exchange our freedom, our principles, our values, and sacrifice them in exchange for peace. Instead, we will secure peace through our strength. Again, Madam President, you have done me a high honor by bestowing this award, on behalf of Taiwan, to me. Thank you very much. May God bless you. May God bless the Republic of China (Taiwan). And may God bless the United States of America.

Also in attendance at the ceremony were Mr. O'Brien's wife Mrs. Lo-Mari O'Brien, former Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Asian Affairs at the White House National Security Council and GTI Bipartisan Task Force on US-Taiwan Relations Deputy Chair Allison Hooker, and GTI Chair of the Board of Directors Jennifer Hu.

President Tsai confers a decoration on former White House national security advisor Robert O'Brien.

President Tsai poses for a group photo with a delegation led by Ambassador O'Brien.

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中文

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President Lai hosts state banquet for Prime Minister Feleti Teo of Tuvalu

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中文

2025-12-04

President Lai interviewed by The New York Times DealBook Summit

In a recent interview via videoconference with The New York Times for its DealBook Summit, President Lai Ching-te responded to questions from host Andrew Ross Sorkin on topics including Taiwan’s national defense, cross-strait relations, Taiwan-US relations, the Russia-Ukraine war, and the semiconductor industry. The interview was broadcast in the early morning of December 4. The DealBook Summit is a major annual event held by The New York Times aimed at facilitating dialogue among leaders from various sectors and sharing their insights and analyses on international affairs. This year’s summit was held on December 3 (US EST) in New York, and included such speakers as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, United States Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, California Governor Gavin Newsom, Palantir CEO Alex Karp, and Turning Point USA CEO and Chair of the Board Erika Kirk. The following is the full text of the interview: Q: Here’s where I want to start the conversation. You’ve just announced this past week that you’re introducing a US$40 billion special budget for military spending to buy more weapons from the US to try to deter China from invading Taiwan. What indicators, and perhaps new indicators, are you looking at that shows an increased threat to Taiwan? President Lai: We can see that China’s military drills targeted at Taiwan are becoming increasingly frequent and intense. They have even moved beyond the first island chain into the second, affecting the wider Indo-Pacific region. At the same time, China’s united front influence campaigns against Taiwan are also becoming more serious. In order to safeguard national security and fulfill our responsibility to maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait, we have announced this special defense budget. We believe that peace is priceless, and war has no winners. While we aspire to peace, we cannot harbor illusions about it. Peace must be secured through strength. This is why we are increasing our defense budget and strengthening our national defense capabilities, while also cutting back our economic dependence on China. This includes improving our economic resilience. In 2010, 83.8 percent of Taiwan’s outbound investment went to China; last year, that figure had dropped to around 7 percent. We are also working side-by-side with other democracies to reinforce deterrence. Robust preparations are the best way to avoid war and achieve peace. Q: Let me ask you this: President Xi has said that his goal for China’s military is to be capable of taking Taiwan by force by 2027. You said that Beijing is accelerating these preparations for an attempted invasion. So what do you think China’s timeline is now? President Lai: We must ensure the best possible preparations for the worst-case scenarios. Whatever timeline the PLA may have, Taiwan’s fundamental principle is that we must be ready first – this is our basic principle. I also want to use this opportunity to reiterate to the international community that Taiwan will do everything necessary to protect itself and to safeguard regional peace and stability. We are grateful to the international community, including the G7, the president of the United States, Japan’s political leaders, and many others for their interest in cross-strait peace and emphasizing that stability in the Taiwan Strait is essential to global security and prosperity. Their shared position greatly contributes to stability in Taiwan and peace in the region. We hope Taiwan can continue working with the international community to uphold the rules-based international order. Q: Well, let me ask you about that because, Mr. President, last week you said the relationship between Taiwan and the US is rock-solid. How confident are you that the United States, and in particular President Trump, would come to the aid of Taiwan if China were to invade? President Lai: Although Taiwan and the United States do not have official diplomatic relations, Taiwan is deeply grateful to the US Congress for passing the Taiwan Relations Act and to President Ronald Reagan for the Six Assurances. For decades, successive US administrations and both parties in Congress have strongly supported Taiwan based on this foundation. Our relationship truly is rock-solid. Since President Trump took office, cooperation with Taiwan has not only continued but even expanded. We look forward to working with the United States through tariff negotiations – not only to help address their trade deficit, but also to deepen bilateral economic relations and strengthen our friendship. Q: We’ve all been watching what’s been happening play out in Ukraine between Ukraine and Russia. And there have been questions inside Ukraine about the support that the United States has provided or not in terms of how this ultimately gets settled. How do you view what’s happening in Ukraine right now and the role that the US is playing there? President Lai: Taiwan stands with the people of Ukraine. We hope this irrational and illegitimate war will be over as soon as possible so that the Ukrainian people will no longer have to suffer. However, in ending this war, we also hope that Ukraine’s national dignity and the well-being of its people will be respected, and future conflict will be prevented. Q: You talked about trade earlier. When you talk about the relationship between the US and Taiwan, one of the reasons that Taiwan is so valuable, such a strategic asset – and President Trump talks about it this way about Taiwan – is because of semiconductors. And one of the things that he says is that he hopes that the US is going to be manufacturing 40 to 50 percent of all semiconductors in the next couple of years with your help. Does that make Taiwan more valuable ultimately to the US or do you worry at all that it makes it less valuable to the US? President Lai: Taiwan’s semiconductor industry plays a crucial role, especially as we enter the future AI era. But I want to emphasize, with humility, that Taiwan’s semiconductor sector is a global asset. The industry functions as an ecosystem: the US excels in R&D, design, and has the world’s largest market; Japan provides materials and equipment; the Netherlands makes advanced lithography systems; Taiwan specializes in logic chip manufacturing; and Korea leads in flash memory chips. In other words, semiconductors are a global ecosystem – it requires worldwide cooperation to be effective. This is why our government supports TSMC and other Taiwanese semiconductor firms as they invest in the US, Japan, Europe, or wherever they believe is needed. This contributes to global progress and prosperity. As a result, we remain supportive as President Trump seeks investments from Taiwanese semiconductor companies and suppliers in the US. We hope Taiwan can support the reindustrialization of the US. President Trump wants the US to become the world center for AI, and we are willing to assist in this. As I said earlier, we hope Taiwan-US tariff negotiations will not only help reduce the US trade deficit, but also deepen bilateral economic cooperation, further integrate Taiwan’s industries with the American economic structure, and strengthen the Taiwan-US relationship. This will contribute to global prosperity and development. Q: Do you think that President Trump’s timeline, this idea that 40 to 50 percent of all semiconductors could be manufactured in the United States in the next two or three years, is realistic? President Lai: We understand President Trump’s sense of urgency; he wants the United States to maintain an edge in global competition. Whether this target of 40 to 50 percent can be achieved within this timeframe depends not only on Taiwan’s support but also on the US government’s ability to facilitate land acquisition, water and electricity supply, workforce and talent development, and investment incentives. If the US government manages to do this well and effectively, then this goal becomes much more achievable. Q: There’s a big debate in the United States right now about whether companies like Nvidia should be allowed to sell their most advanced chips to China. And there has not been a real answer yet here in the US. I’m curious what you think about that. Do you think that the most advanced chips should be allowed to be exported to China? President Lai: As Taiwan’s president, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on US domestic policy. But I can share an experience: Around the year 2000, Taiwan faced a similar debate about whether our advanced chip manufacturing capabilities should move to mainland China. There was an extensive and thorough discussion across society and among different political parties. The consensus was that it would be unwise and should not happen. Looking back, that decision was correct. Had Taiwan allowed its most advanced manufacturing to relocate to China, Taiwan would not be what it is today. Q: Final question for you. Your economy is red hot right now, in large part because of the AI boom. It’s a two-part question. I wonder whether you’re worried about an AI boom being an AI bubble. And I’m also curious how you think about the Chinese economy today and how that relates to how President Xi even views Taiwan, and when and if it would consider either invading or, through using the gray zone, trying to effectively cut off or control Taiwan. President Lai: There are many different views in the tech and economic communities. Some say AI could become a bubble; others say it may not. As a political leader, I believe the AI era will bring greater convenience to people’s lives, stimulate economic development, and contribute to global prosperity. That is why we must take steps to prevent AI from becoming a bubble. In other words, leaders around the world – especially those from countries with AI-related industries – should work together and take necessary measures to ensure AI develops sustainably and has a soft landing, so that it can drive long-term global growth. China’s economy is indeed struggling. Taiwan’s growth rate this year is projected to reach 7.37 percent, while international financial institutions estimate China’s growth to be only a little above 4 percent. We sincerely hope that as China faces economic pressures, President Xi Jinping will focus not on territorial expansion but on improving the well-being of the Chinese people. Taiwan is willing to help and to cooperate in addressing these economic challenges.

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