Taiwanese president Tsai Ing-wen delivered a videotaped address to an audience at the Concordia Summit, an unofficial conference that is taking place in New York on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly’s high-level meeting this week. Her remarks were also in defiance of the Chinese Communist Party’s campaign to isolate Taiwan on the global stage. Extinguishing Taiwan’s democracy is not Beijing’s only goal, she warned, citing China’s broader military intimidation efforts and its international political-interference work.
“Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine and the daily threats that Taiwan faces are all evidence that shows authoritarian regimes will do whatever it takes to achieve expansionism,” Tsai said.
While President Biden said during a 60 Minutes interview that aired last night that the U.S. would send troops to defend Taiwan against an “unprecedented” Chinese attack, Tsai’s speech, which was recorded ahead of time, did not address those comments.
China in recent years has intensified its diplomatic-isolation campaign, leading Taiwanese officials to worry that Beijing is laying the diplomatic groundwork for an eventual invasion to be met with apathy from the U.N., as Taiwanese ambassador James Lee recently told NR.
Tsai’s speech is the first time that a Taiwanese leader has addressed even an unofficial gathering adjacent to the U.N. General Assembly’s annual meeting since China’s Communist government succeeded in securing Taiwan’s ejection from the U.N. in 1971. Taiwanese passport holders are not even allowed to set foot on U.N. property.
Addressing Taiwan’s U.N. isolation in her remarks, Tsai spoke about Taiwan’s efforts to donate medical equipment to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. “Even though Taiwan is not a member of the United Nations, we have been consistently helping the world on resolving many crises,” Tsai said.
She also expressed support for Ukraine’s efforts to fight off the Russian invasion, saying that Taiwan is proud to play a role in providing Kyiv with assistance.
When it comes to Chinese aggression, she said, the stakes are greater than her own country’s future.
“We have to educate ourselves on the authoritarian playbook and understand that Taiwan’s democracy will not be the only thing that the PRC seeks to extinguish. Securing Taiwan’s democracy is imperative in securing freedom and human rights for our collective future” she said.
Tsai, unlike other world leaders, will not attend or address the official U.N. gathering, as the organization’s leaders continue to bow to Chinese pressure and ignore Taipei’s requests to participate, even informally, at U.N. bodies.
After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, the People’s Liberation Army drastically increased its military activities in the region, including by sending jets across the Taiwan Strait median line. Earlier today, the Taiwanese ministry of defense reported that it had detected nine Chinese military aircraft and five naval vessels in the general area near Taiwan.