President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) attended a Global Cooperation and Training Framework (GCTF) seminar on building resilient democracy to counter transnational repression this Tuesday.

Lai said Taiwan will focus on prevention, protection, and countermeasures to better protect Taiwanese citizens in the face of transnational repression faced by all democratic countries.

In his remarks, Lai thanked partners including Canada, the United States, Japan, Australia, and the United Kingdom for co-organizing the workshop with Taiwan through the GCTF, and for inviting experts and scholars from 29 countries to share experiences to safeguard the values of democracy, freedom, human rights, and the rule of law.

Lai said, “Taiwan supports the EU in strengthening its response mechanisms and will continue to work with the EU and like-minded countries to build a safe and reliable information environment, creating more timely early warnings, more effective accountability, and a more comprehensive protection network to safeguard national and public security.”

The president stated that threats democratic nations face have transcended traditional military and geographical boundaries. Authoritarianism conducts systematic transnational repression, cross-border surveillance, cyberattacks, and disseminates misinformation through emerging technologies and illicit financial flows, Lai said. He explained that these actions attempt to divide societies, silence dissent, and erode the sovereignty of democratic nations.

No country can remain uninvolved in the face of these complex challenges, Lai underscored, stressing the importance of democratic partners working together to build resilience.