Lai ties Strait peace to strength as liberals back Taiwan maritime cooperation

President Lai Ching-te said Taiwan is investing in asymmetric combat power and whole-of-society defence resilience, arguing that lasting peace across the Taiwan Strait must rest on strength rather than appeasement. He spoke on the evening of 5 November at a Taipei reception marking the Democratic Progressive Party's 40th anniversary and Liberal International's 65th world congress, according to the Central News Agency and Taiwan News.

Lai said Taiwan seeks to keep the Strait and the region stable, does not seek conflict and will not provoke others. He also said history shows that compromise with authoritarian pressure invites aggression, and that true peace has to be grounded in capability. The remarks were carried in a Democratic Progressive Party release summarised by the Central News Agency.

On force design, Lai said the government is modernising the armed forces, putting money into asymmetric capabilities and hardening societal resilience. He linked that programme to a wider claim that rules-based order is under strain, citing Russia's war in Ukraine and grey-zone coercion in the Indo-Pacific as examples of authoritarian testing of free societies.

Separately, Liberal International's Taipei session on 4 November unanimously adopted three resolutions put forward by the Democratic Progressive Party, Liberty Times reported. One resolution rejects what it describes as illegal Chinese claims of sovereignty and jurisdiction over Taiwan and says Taiwan's future must be decided by its people through democratic process.

A second resolution condemns transnational repression and urges democracies not to assist authoritarian efforts to silence critics abroad. A third resolution on Indo-Pacific freedom of navigation says peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait matter for global shipping and calls on Indo-Pacific countries to strengthen maritime monitoring and information sharing, and to support Taiwan's meaningful participation in international maritime safety cooperation.

The congress also adopted a broader world resolution that, according to Liberty Times, welcomed Lai's four pillars of peace and Taiwan's whole-of-society defence posture, while expressing concern about Chinese military intimidation and grey-zone pressure around Taiwan. Liberal International said the Taipei meeting was its first full congress hosted in Taiwan, with more than 150 delegates from nearly 50 countries and about 70 parties, the Democratic Progressive Party said.

Lai also framed advanced semiconductors as part of economic security rather than only a commercial asset, saying democratic partners should build secure and transparent supply chains together. He said Taiwan welcomes dialogue on the basis of equality and dignity while defending its sovereignty and democratic way of life.

Taken together, the president's asymmetric-force pledge and the liberals' freedom-of-navigation resolution put defence investment and Strait maritime security at the centre of a political gathering that otherwise focused on democratic resilience. No new weapons package, exercise result or procurement contract was announced at the reception.