Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) met with a visiting Latvia-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group on Tuesday. Hsiao expressed hope to strengthen cooperation on democracy and security amid growing geopolitical tensions.

According to a Presidential Office statement, Hsiao said that despite the geographic distance between Taiwan and Latvia, both share common interests and values, particularly the defense of democracy and freedom. She emphasized the importance of solidarity among democratic countries in a time of increasing global uncertainty.

Hsiao noted that Taiwan never takes its freedom for granted and continues to reinforce self-defense capabilities and national security to safeguard its democratic way of life.

She added that Taiwan and Latvia have promising potential for collaboration in industries such as autonomous technologies, unmanned systems, and artificial intelligence. Highlighting Taiwan’s key role in global semiconductor production and AI hardware manufacturing, Hsiao said those strengths could further contribute to regional security and deepen future cooperation with Latvia.