Tsai urges democracies to unite amid rising authoritarian aggression

Cambridge, May 16 (CNA) Former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has urged democracies around the world to be "even more united" against growing authoritarian threats, while highlighting U.S. President Donald Trump's push for allies to be more responsible for their security.

"Every generation has its challenges. Our generation is now facing the greatest challenge of our time," Tsai said Friday afternoon (local time) at an event in England hosted by the University of Cambridge's Center for Geopolitics, on the eighth day of her trip to Europe.

In a speech titled "Defending Democracy in the New World Order," Tsai described 2024 as a "Super Year of Elections," with more than 70 countries holding national votes.

The results brought "dramatic changes" in leadership and legislative dynamics across the democratic world, she said, hit by uncertainty stemming from a shifting world order, as "all the assumptions about alliances and the role of major powers are now being called into question."

In the meantime, however, the authoritarian threat around the world "looms larger than ever," Tsai said.

Authoritarian regimes are able to maintain consistency and power due to their undemocratic nature and have become "stronger and more confident," Tsai said.

"Their leaders are now convinced that they are more adaptive to change," she said. "They have also been colluding in the pursuit of their self-interested and expansionist agendas while influencing domestic politics in democracies."

With the "rules of engagement" changing, Tsai said the collective strategies of democracies must evolve during what she called a "consequential time" for outreach and adaptation.

As authoritarian regimes cooperate to "further their expansionist agendas," democracies need to be "even more united," Tsai said.

"Defending democracy has a price, and it won't be a free ride for anyone," she said, noting that Taiwan stands ready to be a partner and contribute to making the democratic world more resilient in the midst of such challenges.

"In Taiwan, we know what resilience looks like, because we understand all too well the danger posed by those who seek to exploit democracy's imperfections," she said, citing the country's past experience under authoritarian rule and the ongoing "much-intensified threats and intimidation" from China.

Tsai pointed to several measures taken during her eight-year presidency from 2016 to 2024 to strengthen Taiwan's defenses and democratic resilience, including an over 80 percent increase in the defense budget and improved combat training and equipment for troops.

Taiwan has also fortified its digital infrastructure to withstand cyber threats, Tsai said, citing cooperation with the United Kingdom on strategic communication, which she described as "a very important part" of countering Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference.

While discussing the rise of authoritarianism, Tsai addressed the U.S.' shifting foreign policy under Trump but did not criticize his own authoritarian tendencies, as noted by his critics, or support of authoritarian leaders such as Vladimir Putin of Russia or Victor Orban of Hungary.

Instead, she said Washington's calls for allies to take on greater security responsibilities should be seen as "reminders for democracies around the world to work even harder together" to safeguard their own security.

"In other words, the democratic alliance now means more than before," she said. "The collective security in the Indo-Pacific and Europe, while still relevant to U.S. interests, also became even more critical to global peace and security."

Having delivered a speech in Parliament on Thursday, Tsai is currently visiting the U.K. at the invitation of British politicians, as part of her second European tour since leaving office last May. Over the past week, she also visited Lithuania and Denmark.