TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — In an interview with podcaster Shawn Ryan, Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) said that Taiwan is doing everything it can to prevent a war with China.
In the latest episode of the Shawn Ryan Show, which aired Friday, Hsiao discussed the intensifying military threat from China, how Taiwan is navigating an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, and the pivotal role of Taiwan’s semiconductor industry in the global tech supply chain, per CNA.
When asked to comment on warnings by US military and intelligence officials that Chinese leader Xi Jinping has directed the PLA to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027, Hsiao said that such timelines involve intentions and capabilities. “I think ultimately for Taiwan, everything we are doing is to prevent conflict from happening, whether it is 2027 or before that or beyond that.”
The goal, she said, is to build credible deterrence and ensure that Beijing does not have the confidence to launch an attack on Taiwan without paying a heavy price.
Hsiao said that China continues to assert its claim to Taiwan. To counter this, Hsiao said Taiwan must maintain the status quo in the Taiwan Strait. She stressed that Taiwan “will not provoke or seek to disrupt the status quo, but neither will we submit to coercion.”
Hsiao admitted that Taiwan cannot compete with Beijing in terms of sheer numbers. However, she underscored that Taiwan is advancing its asymmetric warfare capabilities while also leveraging innovation and developing indigenous manufacturing capabilities to create more effective defense systems.
Hsiao said China’s military expansion began before the DPP came to power and that PLA exercises are no longer limited to areas near Taiwan, but now extend deep into the Indo-Pacific. She added China is exporting its military technology to regions such as Europe and the Middle East.
“That is also a very alarming trend,” Hsiao warned. She said Taiwan is working on building non-Chinese supply chains to ensure democratic countries are not vulnerable to coercion from Beijing.
In addition to China’s military threat, Hsiao also pointed to ongoing gray-zone tactics targeting Taiwan, including cognitive warfare, disinformation campaigns, and cyberattacks. To counter these threats, the government is developing hybrid responses and working to strengthen societal resilience, she said.
Taiwanese already have a strong awareness of disaster preparedness due to past experiences with natural disasters like earthquakes, Hsiao said. However, she added that more work is needed to improve first-aid training, emergency drills, stockpiling supplies, and creating shelter plans.
She said President Lai Ching-te's (賴清德) whole-of-society resilience effort looks at how citizens can protect themselves to relieve some of the traditional burdens on government and support the continuity of government.
Hsiao said resilience is at the core of the Taiwanese spirit. “We have come a long way in making Taiwan also a land of the free. And no person or no country is too small to deserve freedom. So we are determined to protect that.”
