December 29, 2022
No. 386
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) sincerely welcomes the upcoming visit to Taiwan from January 3 to 5 next year (2023) by Anders Fogh Rasmussen, currently Chairman of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation and previously Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Prime Minister of Denmark.
During his stay, Mr. Rasmussen will meet with President Tsai Ing-wen and Vice President Lai Ching-te, attend a dinner hosted by Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu, and meet with legislators and think tank scholars. He is expected to engage in extensive exchanges of opinions on key issues such as democratic freedom and China’s military threat to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and in the Indo-Pacific region.
Mr. Rasmussen has consistently drawn international attention to the issue of security across the Taiwan Strait, calling on the democratic community to strengthen exchanges and cooperation with Taiwan, build democratic resilience and solidarity, and jointly respond to the challenge of authoritarian expansion. His visit is a concrete demonstration of his staunch support for Taiwan.
Mr. Rasmussen founded the Alliance of Democracies Foundation in 2017 to unite the global democratic community in promoting the universal values of freedom and democracy. Since 2018, the foundation has held the annual Copenhagen Democracy Summit, which is attended by leaders and political figures from democracies around the world. In 2019, Minister Wu addressed the summit in person and President Tsai has spoken at the summit every year since 2020. This has greatly increased international awareness and support of democratic Taiwan, cross-strait security, and regional stability.
Mr. Rasmussen served as Prime Minister of Denmark from 2001 to 2009 and Secretary General of NATO from 2009 to 2014. As well as being an internationally renowned statesman, Mr. Rasmussen is a staunch friend of Taiwan. MOFA sincerely welcomes his visit and looks forward to further enhancing exchanges and cooperation with international democratic partners to jointly safeguard the common values of freedom and democracy. (E)