Taiwan will not shy away from 'authoritarian intrusion': Tsai

ROC Central News Agency

07/01/2022 12:21 PM

Taipei, July 1 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told a global party congress on Thursday that the people of Taiwan are determined to defend democracy despite increasing threats from China and would not cave into "authoritarian intrusion."

Tsai, in her capacity as chairwoman of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), delivered a speech in a pre-recorded video at the opening of the Liberal International's 63rd congress in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia.

Established in 1947, the Liberal International (LI) is a federation of liberal political parties from around the world. The DPP became a LI member in 1994.

During her speech, Tsai accused Beijing of seeking to corrode the democratic way of life cherished by the people of Taiwan.

While Taiwan has been faced with increasingly aggressive threats from China in recent years, Tsai said, "Taiwanese are not shying away from authoritarian intrusion."

"We are meeting these challenges head-on and fighting against domestic and external forces seeking to undermine our democracy," she said.

Tsai called on liberal party members around the world to unite in fighting "authoritarian regimes' attempts to infiltrate our democratic institutions and erode human rights and civic space."

She said Russia's invasion of Ukraine has demonstrated that authoritarian regimes will use any method to achieve their expansionist goals, adding that there is a need to reconstruct a liberal world order.

"What authoritarian regimes do best is divide and conquer," Tsai said. "Only when we work together and support one another can we succeed in combating the expansionist goals of authoritarian regimes."

Tsai added that Taiwan stands ready to strengthen its collaborations with the international community, working together to safeguard the liberal and democratic world order.

(By Teng Pei-ju)

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