China's authoritarian ambitions will not stop with Taiwan: Lai

Taipei, Aug. 21 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) on Wednesday called on democratic nations to take "concrete action" to address the threat of China's authoritarian expansion, noting that Taiwan was not the only target as Beijing sought to change the international order.

"China's growing authoritarianism will not stop with Taiwan, nor is Taiwan the only target of China's economic pressures," Lai told the Ketagalan Forum, a security dialogue held annually in Taipei.

"Democratic countries must come together and take concrete action," Lai said, noting that "only by working together can we inhibit the expansion of authoritarianism."

He said China had sought to intimidate its neighbors and undermine regional peace and stability through military exercises in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea and the Western Pacific, which were sometimes conducted in collaboration with Russia.

Lai also called China out for what he called "weaponized trade" and economic coercion against not just Taiwan, but Japan, Korea, Australia, Lithuania, and Canada, among other countries.

The president also accused Beijing of having attempted to "infiltrate and influence elections in Taiwan and other countries" through the use of "cyberattacks, cognitive warfare, disinformation and political interference."

Lai said Taiwan "will not be intimidated" by the challenges posed by China and would continue to reform the country's defense, increase spending and build up civil defense resilience.

He went on to say, without elaborating, that Taiwan would also seek exchanges and cooperation with other countries in defense and security, which he said would demonstrate "the strength of deterrence" and "prevent war."

On the economic front, Taiwan has also greatly reduced its dependence on the Chinese market, Lai said, citing government figures that showed Taiwan's investment in China had dropped from a 2010 peak of 83.8 percent of the total outbound investment to 11.4 percent in 2023.

In the meantime, Taiwan, intent on diversifying trade, will continue to seek opportunities to negotiate new trade agreements with other countries or join regional trade blocs, Lai added.

Wary of Beijing's multifaceted pressure campaign against Taiwan, however, Lai said his administration would work to maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and was willing to cooperate with China on a reciprocal basis.

"As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will neither yield nor provoke," he said, adding that his cross-strait policy remained stable and consistent.

Meanwhile, former Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, who was invited to deliver a keynote speech at the one-day forum, expressed his concerns over the situation in the Taiwan Strait.

Noda, a member of Japan's House of Representatives, noted that Japan should repeatedly convey to the international community the importance of peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait.

A veteran politician from the opposition Constitutional Democratic Party, Noda also told CNA later that "there is no difference between the ruling party and the opposition [in Japan] when it comes to Taiwan."

"Taiwan is an extremely important partner that shares our fundamental values," said Noda, who served as Japanese prime minister from 2011 to 2012.