《TAIPEI TIMES》 Tsai vows to boost national defense, regional peace

By Chen Yun and Liu Tzu-hsuan / Staff reporter, with staff writer

President Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） yesterday vowed to boost the nation’s self-defense capabilities and uphold regional peace at a meeting with a US delegation at the Presidential Office in Taipei.

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“As Taiwan stands on the front line of the defense against authoritarian expansion, we will continue to strengthen our national defense capabilities and resolutely uphold regional peace and stability,” Tsai told the delegation led by Thomas Daschle, chairman of the Washington-based think tank Center for American Progress.

Tsai also thanked US President Joe Biden’s administration “for approving six military sales to Taiwan and for conducting freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait.”

Daschle said the relationship between the US and Taiwan “is unprecedentedly strong” and the US is impressed by the progress of democracy in Taiwan in the past 40 years.

Democracy relies on the strength of national security, he said, adding that he believes Republicans and Democrats, as well as US government officials and members of the US Congress, are all “dedicated to making the region a safer place.”

In addition to democracy and security, the importance of economic power cannot be overlooked, he said.

Noting that Taiwan is the eighth-biggest trade partner of the US, Daschle said he looks forward to continued progress in the US-Taiwan Initiative on 21st-Century Trade and the development of other areas for greater cooperation.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES