MARKHAM, Ont.—Former Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen praised the strengthening of ties between Taiwan and Canada during her first visit to Toronto since leaving office.
“In recent years, Taiwan has garnered increasing attention from the international community, especially in Canada,” Tsai said in Mandarin to an audience of Taiwanese diaspora and business leaders at the Hilton Hotel in Markham on Nov. 21. “I can truly sense the significant improvement in our relationship with Canada.”
She highlighted the
support of Canadian MPs for Taiwan’s participation in international organizations, including the World Health Organization and the International Civil Aviation Organization. MPs from all parties have
expressed support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Taiwan, a democratic island nation located southeast of mainland China, has faced significant pressure from the communist-led regime in Beijing, which has made territorial claims over Taiwan and opposes its participation in international organizations as a sovereign state.
In recent years, Beijing has ramped up military threats against the island, deploying military
vessels and
aircraft to Taiwan’s nearby waters and Air Defence Identification Zone, airspace where foreign aircraft are identified before entering a country’s territorial airspace.
International Support
Despite threats from Beijing, Taiwan has maintained trade, cultural, and unofficial ties with most countries around the world, including being Canada’s
15th largest trade partner.
“[The agreement] marks a milestone of our bilateral relationship. Taiwan and Canada are democratic partners who pursue freedom and peace, and our industrial structures are highly complementary,” Tsai said.
Tsai’s visit to the Toronto area is a stop on her way to Nova Scotia, where she has been invited to attend the 2024
Halifax International Security Forum (HISF) from Nov. 22 to 24. The annual forum brings together global leaders in defence and security to discuss pressing international conflict, cybersecurity, and regional security dynamics.
Participants at the 2023 HISF
raised alarms about China’s growing aggression in the Indo-Pacific and globally, particularly as it joins malign actors like Russia and Iran to challenge a U.S.-led alliance of democracies.
“Our adversaries are teaming up against us in Ukraine, in Israel, in Europe, and in the Pacific,” said Josh Rogin, a columnist for The Washington Post, who moderated an HISF
panel on Nov. 17, 2023, focused on the implications of a Russian victory in Ukraine.
A year earlier, former Defence Minister Anita Anand
issued a similar warning, stating at the 2022 HISF that “China is being increasingly aggressive in its desire to assert its ambitions in the Indo-Pacific.”
