TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The inaugural HFX Taipei security forum kicked off on Thursday afternoon, in a significant milestone for Taiwan.
United Microelectronics Corporation founder Robert Tsao (曹興誠), who helped sponsor the forum, said he first heard about the nonprofit organization, HFX, from a friend, who described the organization as one that was not afraid of Chinese pressure and very willing to include Taiwan. This inspired Tsao to reach out to the nonprofit.
Through HFX Taipei, Tsao said he hoped to invite international friends, including from the US, Japan, and European countries, to “stand in solidarity for democracy, freedom and shared values.”
He also wished to convey that despite domestic political disagreements, the Taiwanese stand united when it comes to the nation’s security and international status.
HFX President Peter Van Praagh praised Taiwan as a vibrant democracy “whose continued freedom and security is important not only to the people of Taiwan, but to the security of the entire world.”
The motivation behind holding the two-day forum in Taipei was to gather democracies “to see and understand why Taiwan deserves the international community's friendship,” Van Praagh said. Fostering strategic cooperation among democracies, “is what we do, and today, Taiwan is at the center of it,” he added.
Van Praagh hoped this event would be a “sign to the world how many friends that Taiwan has at this time.”
HFX Taipei will feature five public plenary sessions: "Democracy = Opportunity," "Democracy = Resilience," "Democracy = Justice," "Democracy = Partnership," and “Democracy = Security.”
The organization hosts the annual Halifax International Security Forum in Canada. Last year, former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) was awarded the forum’s John McCain Prize for Leadership in Public Service and delivered a speech calling on global democracies to unite in the face of expanding authoritarianism.
