《TAIPEI TIMES》 Taiwan on front line of defending democracy: Tsai

/ Reuters, PRAGUE

Taiwan is on the front line of defending democracy from assault by authoritarian countries, former president Tsai Ing-wen （蔡英文） said at a conference in Prague yesterday.

Czech President Petr Pavel greeted Tsai on her arrival at the conference.

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The Czech Republic, like most countries, has no official diplomatic ties with Taiwan, but the two sides have moved closer as Beijing ratchets up military threats across the Taiwan Strait and Taipei seeks new friends in eastern and central Europe.

China’s military yesterday launched a new round of war games near Taiwan.

Tsai said that authoritarian regimes wanted to export their form of government to the rest of the world, using methods from information warfare to threats and invasion, and tried in increasingly aggressive ways to paralyze democratic societies.

“Amidst all this Taiwan stands on the front line of the assault,” Tsai said. “The most recent action taken is China’s announcement earlier today of a military exercise.”

“For more than half a century, Taiwan has faced constant intimidation from the Chinese communist regime, which has tried in every possible way to annex Taiwan, and those threats only intensified as Taiwan became an integral part of the international community,” she said.

Pavel and Tsai shook hands and spoke briefly at the opening of the Forum 2000 Conference.

Nevertheless, Pavel did not plan a meeting with Tsai, his office said.

Tsai was due to meet the heads of both chambers of the Czech parliament later yesterday.

The Chinese embassy in Prague did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tsai’s visit. Chinese media have quoted a Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson as saying Beijing firmly opposed the visit.

The annual Forum 2000 conferences, initiated by former Czech president Vaclav Havel, bring together leaders and thinkers from around the world to discuss democracy, human rights and civil society.

Pavel held a telephone call with Tsai when she was still in office and he was president-elect in January last year.

In remarks to the conference yesterday, Pavel called on China to use its influence to help end the war in Ukraine. He also urged Beijing to respect human rights and to show restraint in the Taiwan Strait, without making a direct reference to the war games China is currently conducting around Taiwan.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES