President Tsai Ing-wen delivers remarks during a visit to Taiwan by Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar. (Photo via Getty Images)

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Last week, President Tsai Ing-wen welcomed U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar to Taiwan, the highest-level visit by a U.S. official since 1979. While the visit focused on public health and Taiwan's successful model for fighting coronavirus outbreaks, China has threatened "strong countermeasures" on account of the cabinet secretary's visit.

Hudson was honored to host Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen for a conversation this week on Taiwan's efforts to protect its freedoms and democracy in the face of China's increasing efforts to enforce an authoritarian vision of the "one country" system. In a far-reaching conversation, President Tsai discussed China's recent brutal crackdown on Hong Kong's democracy activism, the crucial role played by the U.S. and allies in protecting human rights, and offered a path forward for how the United States and Taiwan can more closely collaborate on mutual defense and economic priorities.

See key quotes from President Tsai's remarks below.

Key Quotes

Highlighted quotes from President Tsai Ing-wen's remarks during her Hudson event.

1. On Communist China's brutal crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong:

Taiwan hosts deep historical and cultural ties with Hong Kong. ... We are the only two Chinese speaking societies around the world that commemorate June the fourth and its profound significance for freedom and democracy. As a result, we are saddened and alarmed to see this beacon of civil liberties become extinguished in violation of the promises Beijing had made to the people of Hong Kong as well as the international community. We recognize the bravery of the people of Hong Kong. Earlier in July, hundreds of thousands of people turned out to vote in primary elections despite the significant actions that had been taken to discourage them from doing so. We also see the international community as having an obligation to speak out and act against the demise of Hong Kong’s freedoms. I applaud the actions that the U.K., the U.S., and many other democracies have taken and call on more like-minded countries to do the same.

2. Taiwan will defend its democratic values from external aggression:

Taiwan has become a full-fledged democracy. Our 23 million people have the right to determine our own futures, which is antithesis to the position Beijing has taken. Consequently, we must ensure that cross-strait interactions do not jeopardize our freedoms, democracy, and way of life. The people of Taiwan expect nothing less from their democratically elected government. Upholding these principles requires us to be able to defend Taiwan against coercive actions. It entails backing up our words with actions. And this is precisely what I have in mind as I preside over the current round of capacity building of our military. I am pleased that working together with our legislature last year, we unveiled our largest ever defense budget, reaching 2.3% of our GDP.

3. Strong U.S.-Taiwan relations and cooperation is essential:

 I am proud that the relationship between Taiwan and the U.S. has never been closer. Across the board, we share a high degree of mutual trust and a common strategic picture of how we can work together to protect and preserve a free and open Indo-Pacific. I am pleased that my new representative to the U.S., Bi-khim Hsiao, has arrived in Washington, D.C., and looks forward to engaging in more of these discussions. In my second term, I will continue our cooperation with the U.S. Foremost amongst my priorities is to establish a constructive security relationship built on the clear understanding of our shared interests in the region. I am confident that our common acknowledgement of challenges in the region transcends politics and political parties. 

4. Free trade agreement as a means to protect critical supply chains:

Past months have shown us the importance of economic linkages and supply chain security for both Taiwan and the U.S. TSMC has announced that it will be building a state-of-the-art facility in Arizona. Over the past year, American companies such as Google and Microsoft have substantially increased their investments in Taiwan. We must be clear-eyed on how we can move forward on FTA. For too long, closer trade relations have been hindered by technicalities that account for just a small fraction of two-way trade. We want to work together to resolve these issues in a way that is safe for our consumers and also consistent with established scientific standards. I believe that the people of Taiwan can see the value and wisdom in building closer economic relations with the U.S., and conversely, we hope that the U.S. recognizes the broader strategic implications such an agreement will undoubtedly have.

5. Shoring up support among democracies to defeat authoritarianism:

We have noticed the U.S.’ effort to build greater awareness in Europe, Asia, Africa, and many other places about the challenges posed by authoritarian actors. At the Copenhagen Democracy Summit held in June, I saw firsthand the growing consensus amongst like-minded countries about the need to take a forceful stand in defense of global democracy. A very first step can be more institutional and cohesive support for Taiwan’s participation in international institutions. In January this year, over 14 million Taiwanese lined up in polls to cast their votes for the future of our country, one of the highest levels of turnout in our history. The people of Taiwan could not be more proud of our democracy and all that we have accomplished. They exemplify how democracy is not a Western phenomenon or as some people claim, “Incompatible with certain cultures.”

Quotes have been edited for length and clarity

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