In the past three years, global health and economy were debilitated by the pandemic of the century. As we work to repair the impact of this terrible global event, we find ourselves facing attempts by authoritarian regimes to corrode our democratic institutions and undermine human rights.
The Taiwanese people are all too familiar with such aggression. In recent years, Taiwan has been confronted by increasingly aggressive threats from the other side of the Taiwan Strait – from military intimidation and economic coercion, to cyberattacks and disinformation campaigns. All of these constitute attempts to create doubt and erode citizens' confidence in what we have been working so hard for, that is: our democratic way of life.
But even under these constant threats, the Taiwanese have never shied away from confronting the challenges of authoritarianism. Instead, the Taiwanese people meet them head-on. We fight every day against the forces that seek to undermine our democracy. The Taiwanese are ready to share their story of resilience. And we want to learn from the experiences of our international partners as well.