Military preparedness 'best way to avoid war': President Lai

Taipei, Dec. 4 (CNA) President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) said in a U.S. media interview that Taiwan is "working side by side" with other democracies to deter a Chinese invasion and "robust preparations are the best way to avoid war and achieve peace."

Speaking in a prerecorded video interview, which aired Wednesday (U.S. time) at The New York Times DealBook Summit, Lai said that "peace is priceless and war has no winners."

"While we aspire to peace, we cannot harbor illusions about it," Lai told interviewer Andrew Ross Sorkin, the Taiwanese president's first foreign media interview since he announced a US$40 billion special defense budget on Nov. 26.

"Peace must be secured through strength. This is why we are increasing our defense budget and strengthening our national defense capabilities while also cutting back our economic dependence on China," Lai added.

Taiwan's president was one of more than a dozen interviewees at the Times' event, which also featured conversations with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, General Motors CEO Mary Barra, and California Governor Gavin Newsom.

In the interview, which lasted around 10 minutes, Sorkin asked Lai about China's goal of being capable of "taking Taiwan by force by 2027" and what he thought China's current timeline could be.

"Whatever timeline China's People's Liberation Army may have, Taiwan's fundamental principle is that we must be ready first," Lai added, before expressing gratitude to the international community for their support of Taiwan.

The well-known American journalist then asked Lai how confident he felt about U.S. President Donald Trump's support for Taiwan.

"Our relationship truly is rock solid," Lai said of the long-standing relationship between the two sides, adding that U.S. cooperation with Taiwan has expanded since Trump assumed office.

On the Russia-Ukraine war, Lai said Taiwan stands with the people of Ukraine, and that he hopes "this irrational and illegitimate war will be over as soon as possible so that the Ukrainian people will no longer have to suffer."

"However, in ending this war, we also hope that Ukraine's national dignity and the well-being of its people will be respected and future conflict will be prevented," Lai explained.

Sorkin, a financial columnist for The New York Times and co-anchor of CNBC's business news show "Squawk Box," turned the interview to the topic of semiconductors.

Noting the Trump administration's desire to manufacture "40 to 50 percent of all semiconductors in the next couple of years," Sorkin asked whether Lai was concerned about Taiwan potentially being "less valuable" to the U.S. in the future.

Lai said that "semiconductors are a global ecosystem" and that he hopes that Taiwan can "support the re-industrialization of the U.S." through investments in the country.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and other Taiwanese semiconductor firms invest in the U.S., Japan, Europe, or "wherever they believe is needed," Lai said.

On the question of whether Trump's 40 to 50 percent domestic semiconductor manufacturing goal was realistic or not, Lai said that this would depend on the U.S. government's ability to facilitate land, water and electricity supply, workforce and talent development, and investment incentives.

Later in the interview, Lai said that Taiwan's decision around the year 2000 not to relocate its most advanced manufacturing to China was correct.

He also said that leaders around the world should work together to "take steps to prevent AI from becoming a bubble" so that the industry can drive long-term global growth.