Tien, Chung-kwang
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs
Republic of China (Taiwan)
October 7, 2022
(As Delivered)
Ladies and gentlemen:
It gives me great pleasure to host this Yushan Forum luncheon. On behalf of Minister of Foreign Affairs Jaushieh Joseph Wu, I would like to welcome you all and thank you for participating. I am sure you have already learned from the inspiring remarks and rousing discussions we had this morning. As the pandemic recedes and societies reopen, we must cooperate more closely and learn from each other how best to revitalize, reorient, and reconnect.
The annual Yushan Forum is an important platform to promote dialogue and cooperation between Taiwan and its partner countries in South and Southeast Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand. The Forum is an opportunity to showcase progress made under the New Southbound Policy. The policy is people-centric and seeks mutual assistance for mutual benefit as well as sustainable development. Since launching the New Southbound Policy in 2016, we have made substantial progress on economic collaboration, talent exchanges, resource-sharing, and regional linkages. Looking ahead, we will continue to promote regional stability and prosperity by coordinating the New Southbound Policy with the US's Indo-Pacific Strategy, Japan's Free and Open Indo-Pacific, India's Act East Policy, and ASEAN's Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.
Today, we are very delighted that Chancellor Julie Bishop has joined us online as our luncheon speaker. This is the third consecutive year we have had Australian political leaders participate, following former Prime Ministers Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott. This shows that the Taiwan-Australia friendship is flourishing under the New Southbound Policy.
Chancellor Bishop will speak to us about “Taiwan and Australia: Natural and Resilient Partners in the Free and Open Indo-Pacific.” I fully agree with this sentiment.
Let me briefly introduce our speaker. Ms. Bishop is the 13th Chancellor of Australian National University and the first woman to hold that position. Before this, she was long a national political figure. She was a Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party from 2007 to 2018. In government, she served in many positions under different prime ministers. She has been Minister for Aging, Minister for Women, Minister for Education and Science, as well as Acting Prime Minister. Perhaps most prominently, she was Australia's 38th Minister for Foreign Affairs from 2013 through 2018.
One of Ms. Bishop's greatest achievements as Foreign Minister was implementing the New Colombo Plan, which enables young Australians to live, study, and work across the Indo-Pacific region. In just five years, more than 40,000 students have benefited from this plan, including over 1,000 who have come to Taiwan to study. This farsighted plan has proven to be a great success in this Indo-Pacific Era.
Taiwan and Australia share common values and are committed to peace, security, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. Taiwan is a beacon of democracy in Asia and a force for good in the world. But today, Taiwan confronts increasingly aggressive threats, such as military intimidation, gray-zone activities, and influence operations. Democracies, and the rules-based international order, are facing their greatest challenge since the Cold War. Authoritarian regimes like China and Russia are attempting to rewrite the rules and expand.
China's ambition will not stop at Taiwan. We are on the front lines in defending democracy. Ensuring Taiwan's security and maintaining the status quo across the Taiwan Strait are critical to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific.
Taiwan is committed to working with like-minded partners to safeguard peace and stability in the region. We have much to learn from Chancellor Bishop and hope that we can elevate our natural and resilient partnership to a higher level.
Without further ado, let's welcome Chancellor Bishop with a round of applause.