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In an exclusive interview with the AFP, President Lai Ching-te spoke about the future of Asia, should China ever successfully take over Taiwan. Lai said that China’s expansionism would not stop at Taiwan, making other countries in Asia potential targets. He stressed that to prevent such a scenario, Taiwan must strengthen its self-defense capabilities in case it needs to respond to threats. Let’s hear what the president said.

Lai Ching-te
President
If Taiwan were to get annexed, the next countries that would be threatened would be Japan, the Philippines, and other nations in the Indo-Pacific Region. The next steps after that would affect the Americas and Europe. European countries are rearming, and we in Taiwan are strengthening our national defense capabilities. I have even proposed a special budget for national defense. I hope that cooperation between Taiwan and Europe can be strengthened where it comes to the defense industry and defense technology. Taiwan cannot be a bargaining chip for any country. The future of Taiwan can only be decided by the Taiwanese people. We are confident in Taiwan.

Lai had proposed a special defense budget with funding of NT$1.25 trillion to be spent over a period of eight years. But opposition parties in the Legislative Yuan have blocked the bill from even being sent to committee for review 10 times already. On Wednesday, the TPP finally gave in, saying that the party was willing to let the original version of the bill drawn by the Executive Yuan to be reviewed and discussed. KMT Chair Cheng Li-wun followed suit, meeting with lawmakers do discuss a version drafted by the KMT. The party’s legislative caucus convener, Fu Kun-chi, however, has stated that the version that will pass the third reading will not be the Executive Yuan’s.

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