TAIPEI (Taiwan News)—Former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) delivered a speech at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit, noting the unprecedented challenges facing democratic countries, which require new strategies to ensure national security and economic prosperity.

Tsai has spoken at the summit via video every year since 2020. This is the first time Tsai has attended the event in person, per CNA.

Jonas Parello-Plesner, executive director of the organizing group Alliance of Democracies Foundation, said he was glad Tsai could finally attend in person. He also thanked Taiwan government officials and NGOs in attendance, noting that as long as the summit continues, Taiwan will always be welcome.

Tsai’s speech discussed future conflicts arising from rebalancing trade interests and redistributing security responsibilities. Tsai called upon democratic countries to unite and maintain their individual and collective security capabilities, preventing adversaries from forging alliances and developing new tactics to erode democratic institutions.

Tsai said Taiwanese have firsthand experience with authoritarian forces that exploit the imperfections of democracy to undermine local governance. Tsai said Taiwan faces escalating threats and intimidation on an almost daily basis, with China’s constant cyberattacks, hacker operations, and military exercises leading Taiwan to build resilience.

Tsai said Taiwan has protected its elections from authoritarian interference, becoming more vigilant about information manipulation. According to Tsai, resilience is demonstrated at all levels, from the individual to the collective and from the economy to national defense.

She concluded that Taiwan will continue to stand with diplomatic allies who aspire to promote peace and stability. She added that Taiwan is willing to share its decades of experience fighting authoritarianism with the international community so that the region and the world will be better prepared to protect the values we all cherish—freedom and democracy.