Taiwan President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) moved quickly to address public concern on Saturday evening (May 17), posting a detailed five-point statement on Facebook after U.S. President Donald Trump concluded his visit to China on May 15, which brought renewed international scrutiny to the Taiwan question.
Lai said he had been briefed by the full range of Taiwan's national security apparatus — including the National Security Council, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of National Defense, Mainland Affairs Council, and National Security Bureau — before addressing the public directly.
Washington Has Not Changed Its Taiwan Policy, Taipei Says
Lai opened by expressing appreciation for what he described as repeated reassurances from both Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio that long-standing U.S. policy toward Taiwan remains unchanged. He framed American attention to cross-strait peace and stability as a point of continuity that Taipei welcomes.
Taiwan's position, Lai said, is straightforward: maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and the broader Indo-Pacific region is the "consistent and firm" stance of the Republic of China and the broadest consensus among its 23 million people.
Lai noted that he has repeatedly stated publicly that, as a responsible party in the region and across the strait, Taiwan will not provoke, will not escalate conflict, but will also not surrender its sovereignty, dignity, or democratic way of life under pressure. Taiwan, he argued, has never been the party seeking to alter that status quo.
Lai Names China as the Destabilizing Force
Lai directed pointed criticism at Beijing, arguing that China — not Taiwan — is the actor undermining regional peace. He pointed to what he described as years of sustained Chinese military expansion in and around the Taiwan Strait, including aerial and naval incursions, large-scale exercises, gray-zone coercion, and mounting political and economic pressure on neighboring states across the first island chain.
As is well known, Lai emphasized, this is not a challenge Taiwan faces alone. It is a shared and urgent security concern for the entire Indo-Pacific region.
Defending the ROC Is Not "Taiwan Independence"
In a section likely aimed at countering Beijing's framing of his administration, Lai reiterated that the Republic of China Taiwan is a sovereign democratic state — and that defending its existing constitutional order does not constitute a "Taiwan independence" position.
He restated four principles he has articulated previously: upholding Taiwan's free and democratic constitutional system; affirming that the ROC and the PRC are not subordinate to one another; insisting that sovereignty cannot be violated or annexed; and maintaining that Taiwan's future must reflect the will of its people.
Lai said Taiwan remains willing to pursue healthy, orderly exchanges and dialogue with China on the basis of parity and mutual dignity. However, he rejected what he characterized as Beijing's use of "unification" as cover for united front infiltration and politically coercive engagement aimed at annexation — a line, he said, that Taipei will not cross.
U.S. Arms Sales Remain Essential, Lai Says
Lai described the Taiwan Relations Act as the bedrock of long-term U.S.-Taiwan security cooperation, calling the framework both a security commitment and the most important deterrent against actions that would destabilize the region. He expressed appreciation for Trump's support for cross-strait stability since his first term, including the growing scope and dollar value of arms sales to Taiwan, which have helped Taiwan strengthen its self-defense capabilities.
Lai also reaffirmed Taiwan's own defense commitments, noting that, like other nations along the island chain, the island has steadily increased its defense budget in recent years, pursuing reform, asymmetric capabilities, and improvements to reserve mobilization and societal resilience — obligations he cast as shared responsibilities within the broader regional security architecture.
Given China's stated refusal to renounce the use of force and its continued military buildup, Lai argued, U.S. arms sales and deepening security cooperation are not optional — they are essential to preserving regional stability.
Taiwan as a Global Core Interest — 'Not To Be Sacrificed or Traded Away'
Lai's final point was perhaps his most emphatic. He described Taiwan as a critical node in Indo-Pacific security, the global center of AI and semiconductor development, and an indispensable link in the restructuring of global supply chains. Taiwan, he said, represents a convergence of core global interests, and any action destabilizing the Taiwan Strait would constitute a direct challenge to the international rules-based order — with major consequences for regional security, supply chains, and the broader world economy.
Cross-strait peace and stability, he concluded, is a shared interest among the United States, Taiwan, and democratic nations worldwide. Taiwan, he said plainly, "will not be sacrificed or traded away."
Lai closed by stressing that peace is built on strength — the resolve of Taiwan's people to defend democracy, and firm cooperation with allied partners. Taiwan, he pledged, will continue to strengthen its self-defense capabilities, uphold democratic values, and with neither servility nor arrogance, maintain the status quo, contributing actively to regional and global peace and prosperity.
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