Taiwan Can Share Experience Fighting for Freedom: Tsai 「為自由奮戰」致詞 蔡分享台灣民主經驗

President Tsai Ing-wen delivered a videotaped speech during "The Struggle for Freedom" conference held in Texas, U.S.. She spoke about authoritarian regimes undermining democratic systems and how the people of Taiwan have experience fighting for freedom that can be shared with the world.

President Tsai Ing-wen was invited by American think tank National Endowment for Democracy to deliver a videotaped speech during "The Struggle for Freedom" conference. It took place in Texas on Nov. 16. She warned about authoritarian regimes destroying democratic systems and encroaching on human rights and civic spaces, and said that the people of Taiwan have experience struggling for freedom which can be shared with the world.

Tsai Ing-wen, President: “Taiwan is now in the position to share its experience with the world and create alliance, allowing democracies to more effectively deal with crises and counter the threats of authoritarianism.”

Tsai cited the Ukraine-Russia war as proof that "dictatorships will do whatever it takes to achieve their goal of expansionism." Meanwhile, "The Economist" published its guide to the coming year "The World Ahead 2023" and the cover featured global leaders including U.S. President Joe Biden and Tsai. Taiwan may be raising its international profile, but tensions remain sky-high across the Taiwan Strait and there is a lot of guessing about whether a war will break out. U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley said he believes Chinese President Xi Jinping is a "rational actor" and he would conclude that attacking Taiwan in the near future would be an excessive risk and an unwise decision.

Mark Milley, US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: “You've got very complex terrain with mountains. Most of Taiwan is a mountainous island. So it's a very, very difficult military objective, a very difficult military operation to execute. We watch it closely. We are militarily prepared, and one of the keys now is to make sure that Taiwan can defend itself.”

Milley also said he believes it will be some time before the Chinese have the military capability to attack Taiwan and the U.S. is militarily prepared. He added that it would be a political, geopolitical, and strategic mistake for China to attack Taiwan in the near future. Meanwhile, the U.S. Congress' U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission recommended that the Congress enact legislation creating a permanent interagency committee in the executive branch charged with developing options and creating plans for the imposition of sanctions or other economic measures in a range of possible scenarios, including but not limited to a Chinese attack, blockade, or other hostile action against Taiwan, as well as reviewing the bilateral trade relationship.

應美國「國家民主基金會」邀請，總統蔡英文以錄影方式為「為自由奮戰」會議致詞，蔡總統指出，威權政權破壞民主制度、侵害人權與公民空間的潛在威脅不容小覷，還強調台灣人民就有為自由而奮鬥的經驗，可以和世界分享。

總統蔡英文說：「台灣在此和世界分享經驗、結交盟友，讓民主國家能更有效處理危機、反制威權專制的威脅。」

蔡總統還以俄烏戰爭為例，強調專制政權將會不惜一切代價、實現擴張主義的目標。而不只這次受邀發表談話、顯示台灣就在民主自由前線。英國《經濟學人》談2023年趨勢特輯封面，還將蔡總統與美國總統拜登等世界領導人放在一起，也顯示台灣的努力受到世界關注。不過台海局勢持續緊張，引發揣測、兩岸是否會的開戰，美軍參謀首長聯席會議主席密利則認為，相信習近平是理性的角色，若共軍在不久將來武力犯台、會是一大風險，也是不智之舉。

美軍參謀首長聯席會議主席密利指出：「台灣擁有非常複雜的地形與山脈，是個多山的島嶼，因此是個非常困難的軍事目標，非常難以執行的軍事行動，美方正密切觀察，並在軍事上做好準備，目前的一個關鍵，是確保台灣能夠自我防衛。」

密利認為中國還需要一段時間才能擁有軍事能力並且做好準備，若在近期攻台將是政治錯誤、戰略錯誤。另外美國國會「美中經濟與安全審查委員會」（USCC）則建議在行政部門中成立跨單位常設委員會，針對中國封鎖、攻擊台灣等可能的行動，研擬制裁或經濟懲罰計畫，也要檢討美國與中國的貿易關係。