MIL Asia Pacific Publishing Engine

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

December 21, 2025No. 538Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung led an economic and trade delegation to the Republic of Palau from December 18 to 21. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited representatives from Taiwan’s tourism, electronics, healthcare, and green energy industries to join the delegation so that they could explore opportunities for collaboration in Palau.During the visit, Minister Lin called on Palau President Surangel Whipps, Jr.; Minister of State Gustav Aitaro; and other senior officials. Minister Lin also witnessed the signing of an MOU by the president of a Taiwanese enterprise and the governor of Melekeok State on investment cooperation to launch Palau’s premier golf course, forming a concrete example of bilateral collaboration on advancing coprosperity.In recent years, Palau has actively promoted the blue economy and green tourism, which align closely with Taiwan’s philosophy on sustainable development. The two countries have continued to build mutual trust and exchanges over the past year through initiatives under the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project. In January of this year, Minister Lin, in his capacity as President Lai Ching-te’s special envoy, led an industry delegation to attend President Whipps’s inauguration, demonstrating the importance Taiwan attached to its diplomatic alliance with Palau and its resolve to deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation. This May, President Whipps led a delegation to Taiwan to tour eco-friendly golf courses, green energy parks, and medical institutions, as well as to attend the launch ceremony of a zero-emissions vessel. His visit highlighted the strong emphasis Palau places on tourism, sustainable development, and healthcare.The delegation led by Minister Lin was highly regarded by the Palauan government. In addition to a welcome banquet hosted by President Whipps and the first lady, the members received a warm reception from cabinet officials, traditional leaders, members of the Senate and House of Delegates, and other dignitaries during this fact-finding mission.As Palau will host the Pacific Islands Forum next year, Taiwan will leverage this significant multilateral event to promote cooperation with like-minded nations and showcase to the international community the concrete results of coprosperity and mutual benefit shared by Taiwan and its Pacific allies.Minister Lin’s delegation successfully facilitated tangible investments by Taiwanese enterprises in Palau, serving as an exemplary model of public-private partnership. Minister Lin stated that MOFA would continue to encourage Taiwan’s private sector investment in diplomatic allies through the Diplomatic Allies Prosperity Project. He also asserted that Taiwan would continue assisting Palau in further developing its smart healthcare, sports talent, clean energy, and sustainable tourism. The delegation showcased Taiwan’s active contributions to the Pacific region, using Taiwan’s to realize concrete outcomes in Palau that are seen by the world. (E)

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

US government officially notifies Taiwan of latest arms sale

Date：2025-12-18
Data Source：Department of North American Affairs

December 18, 2025  No. 534  

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) has received official notification from the United States government that its executive branch has informed Congress of an arms sale to Taiwan totaling US$11.1 billion. The sale covers eight items: the Taiwan Tactical Network and Team Awareness Kit; AH-1W helicopter spare and repair parts and related equipment; M109A7 self-propelled howitzers; the additional procurement of high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) and related equipment; the additional procurement of tube-launched, optically tracked, wire-guided (TOW) missiles; antiarmor UAV missile systems for the army; the Javelin missile system and related equipment; and Harpoon missile repair follow-on support and related equipment for the navy.
 
This is the second arms sale to Taiwan announced during the second Trump administration. The sale once again demonstrates the United States’ staunch dedication to fulfilling its security commitments to Taiwan in accordance with the Taiwan Relations Act and the Six Assurances. It continues a policy of normalized arms sales to Taiwan, assisting Taiwan in maintaining sufficient self-defense capabilities and building a strong deterrent force.
 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung welcomes the sale and extends sincere gratitude to the United States for its long-standing support for regional security and for Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities. Minister Lin also appreciates that the United States is taking concrete action to reflect the importance that its latest National Security Strategy places on Taiwan’s strategic position and on strengthening Taiwan’s military capabilities so as to deter conflict across the Taiwan Strait.
 
MOFA emphasizes that, in the face of China’s frequent military activities and acts of gray-zone provocation and harassment throughout the region, Taiwan has upheld its dedication to peace and freedom and will continue to enhance national defense and demonstrate its firm resolve to defend itself. Taiwan will also continue to deepen cooperation with the United States and other security partners and bolster its defense capabilities and resilience. It welcomes concrete actions by the international community to jointly advance peace, stability, and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait and throughout the region. (E)

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

MOFA response to China’s recent attempts at military intimidation in the Taiwan Strait and across region

Date：2025-12-10
Data Source：Department of Policy Planning

December 10, 2025The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) condemns recent malicious moves by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to engage in various forms of military intimidation near several neighboring countries and in the Taiwan Strait. Such regrettable actions have heightened regional tensions. 
 
MOFA states that maintaining freedom, security, peace, and stability across the strait and in the Indo-Pacific region is a widely accepted international consensus. Furthermore, China’s unilateral military provocations and suppressive actions threaten Taiwan’s democracy and freedom and the regional status quo of peace and stability. They also destabilize the overall situation in the Indo-Pacific.
 
MOFA calls on China to act in accordance with its status as a major power and fulfill its responsibilities, promptly halt unwarranted military provocations, and respect nations in the region as well as the international order. 
 
As a responsible member of the international community and the Indo-Pacific, Taiwan is committed to firmly safeguarding the cross-strait status quo and bolstering its self-defense capabilities and resilience so as to maintain its security as well as peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. Furthermore, Taiwan will work with democracies in the region to jointly preserve peace, stability, and prosperity. Meanwhile, in the face of external threats and challenges, the government will continue to collaborate with like-minded countries to uphold democracy. Working with the people, the government is determined to protect Taiwan’s democracy, freedom, and security.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

MOFA response to Taiwan-friendly provisions in compromise text of US Congress’s NDAA 2026

Date：2025-12-08
Data Source：Department of North American Affairs

December 8, 2025  

The US Congress published a compromise version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 (NDAA 2026) on December 7 following the approval of respective versions by the US House of Representatives and Senate. The legislation includes multiple provisions that will help bolster Taiwan’s defense capabilities and resilience and deepen Taiwan-US security cooperation, as well as support Taiwan’s international participation.
 
Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung sincerely thanks the US Congress for continuing to demonstrate staunch bipartisan support for Taiwan and for strengthening Taiwan-US security cooperation through legislation. It has been widely noted that the National Security Strategy of the United States of America released by the second Trump administration highlights in particular Taiwan’s vital geostrategic location and stresses that the United States will work with allies and partners to jointly ensure security across the Taiwan Strait. The version of the NDAA 2026 published on this occasion once again demonstrates the consensus between the executive and legislative branches of the US government on enhancing Taiwan’s security.
 
Taiwan will continue to steadily advance cooperation with the United States in security and related areas so as to realize the policy vision of peace through strength. President Lai Ching-te has announced that Taiwan will invest NT$1.25 trillion as it continues to enhance self-defense and work with others to ensure peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the region.
 
The NDAA 2026 will be presented to US President Donald Trump for signature once it is passed in both chambers of the US Congress. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to monitor the progress of the NDAA 2026 and stay in close contact with the US Congress and administration so as to jointly deepen the partnership between Taiwan and the United States.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

MOFA response to Japan and Australia defense ministers’ joint statement reaffirming importance of peace and stability across Taiwan Strait

Date：2025-12-08
Data Source：TAIWAN-JAPAN RELATIONS ASSOCIATION

December 8, 2025  

Japanese Minister of Defense Shinjiro Koizumi met with Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Richard Marles in Tokyo on December 7. Following the meeting, they issued a joint statement reaffirming that peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait were essential to regional and international security and prosperity and reiterating strong opposition to unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion. They also emphasized that cross-strait issues should be resolved peacefully through dialogue. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung welcomes and appreciates these remarks.
 
China’s continued military expansionism and provocative behavior in the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the Pacific region—including Chinese military aircraft recently locking their radars on Japan Air Self-Defense Force aircraft—clearly pose significant threats to Indo-Pacific and global security, raising serious concerns. 
 
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to closely monitor regional developments and calls on China to fulfill its responsibilities as a major power and cease all reckless actions that heighten tensions and jeopardize regional security and stability.
 
Taiwan, a responsible member of the international community, will steadily bolster its self-defense capabilities and whole-of-society defense resilience. It will also cooperate closely with democratic friends and allies to jointly safeguard the rules-based international order and contribute to peace, stability, and prosperity across the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

MOFA strongly condemns China for once again escalating tensions across Taiwan Strait and region through provocative, unilateral actions

Date：2025-12-29
Data Source：Department of Policy Planning

December 29, 2025No. 545Issuing what it called a stern warning against “Taiwan independence separatist forces” and “external interference forces,” China’s People’s Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command used this as a pretext to announce on December 29 the launch of the Justice Mission 2025 joint military exercise, which will be conducted around Taiwan from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on December 30.Such actions once again challenge the rules-based international order and will unilaterally inflict grave damage to peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the region. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) strongly condemns the exercise and calls on China to immediately halt its groundless and provocative military activities.Recently, through a series of military exercises and confrontational actions by its aircraft and vessels, China has carried out a range of threatening activities and practiced gray-zone strategies in the waters and airspace of the Indo-Pacific region. This behavior fully demonstrates that China not only has no interest in maintaining global and regional peace and stability but also will continue to challenge the international order and disrupt the regional status quo time and again.Maintaining Taiwan Strait peace and stability is an international consensus and a key interest of many parties, yet China insists on using military exercises and other means to threaten Taiwan and neighboring countries—particularly those along the first island chain. This defies the principle of refraining from the threat or use of force set out in the UN Charter and violates international norms. In addition to severely harming peace, stability, and security throughout the Indo-Pacific, China’s continuing attempts to unilaterally undermine the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and the region will have a grave impact on global shipping and trade. MOFA calls on China to uphold its responsibilities as a great power and put an immediate halt to its bullying.As a responsible member of the international community and the Indo-Pacific region, Taiwan will continue to work with like-minded nations to jointly safeguard global and regional peace, stability, and prosperous development. (E)

Source: Hong Kong Information Services

Financial Secretary Paul Chan fulfilled various engagements on day two of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland yesterday, as he promoted Hong Kong’s advantages and opportunities.

In the morning, Mr Chan attended a Special Address delivered by State Council Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Mr Chan also attended a breakfast meeting hosted by digital asset company Animoca Brands, where he engaged in discussions with leaders from the financial and innovation sectors on how blockchain applications, including tokenised assets and genomic data analytics, are driving transformation and development in capital markets.

The finance chief said that, as an international financial centre, Hong Kong has adopted a proactive yet prudent approach to the development of digital assets and follows the principle of “same activity, same risk, same regulation” to promote responsible and sustainable market development.

Explaining that a licensing regime for stablecoins is expected to be launched later this year, he highlighted the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government’s leadership role in promoting tokenisation, including the issuance of three batches of tokenised green bonds amounting to around US$2.1 billion. In addition, he said, regulatory sandboxes have been introduced to encourage the development of innovative applications.

Later in the day, Mr Chan met a number of officials from different economies and regional organisations to exchange views on the global political and economic landscape, ways of strengthening collaboration on trade, finance, industrial development and digital transformation, and other issues of mutual concern.

These officials included Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ekniti Nitithanprapas, Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi, Egypt’s Minister of Investment & Foreign Trade Hassan El Khatib; and Switzerland’s State Secretary for International Finance at the Federal Department of Finance Daniela Stoffel.

In addition, Mr Chan met World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to exchange views on the current and future international trade landscape.

His engagements for the day also included a meeting with Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of technology investment firm Vista Equity Partners Robert Smith.

At the meeting, Mr Chan learnt about developments in the firm’s software and data businesses, and encouraged Mr Smith to consider expanding the company’s presence in Hong Kong.

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

外交部が日本外務省報道官による「我が国周辺での軍事演習は緊張を高める行為である」との公開懸念伝達に歓迎及び感謝を表明

Date：2025-12-31
Data Source：TAIWAN-JAPAN RELATIONS ASSOCIATION

2025/12/31No. 550日本外務省報道官は本年（2025年）12月31日に談話を発表し、現在中国が台湾周辺で実施した軍事演習が台湾海峡の緊張を高めていると指摘し、日本政府は中国に対し懸念を表明するとともに関連の動向を強い関心をもって注視していることを明らかにした。また、台湾海峡の平和と安定は国際社会にとって極めて重要であり、対話により平和的に台湾をめぐる問題を解決すべきであると強調した。外交部林佳龍部長はこれに対し、歓迎と感謝の意を表した。中国はこれまで幾度となく台湾周辺において大規模な軍事演習を実施し、地域の平和と安定を破壊してきた。日本政府はその都度、直ちに中国に対し懸念と関心を表明するとともに、国際社会に対し台湾海峡の平和と安定への関心を喚起してきた。これらの行為は、中国が武力及び威圧により一方的に現状を変えようとする意図を示すものであり、台湾海峡の平和と安定を維持するという国際社会の強固な共通認識及び共同利益を厳重に損なうものである。中国はすでに国際社会におけるトラブルメーカーとなっている。外交部は、米国、日本、欧州連合等世界の民主主義陣営の国々が、継続的に協力し権威主義の拡張に対抗することを期待し、各国に対し引き続き台湾海峡情勢への関心と台湾への支持を呼びかける。我が国は今後も、防衛力の向上に努めるとともに、友好国・同盟国と緊密に連携し、ルールに基づく国際秩序を守り、世界及びインド太平洋地域の平和、安定と繁栄を促進していく。

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

MOFA welcomes statements by Australia and New Zealand expressing concern over China’s recent military exercises around Taiwan

Date：2025-12-31
Data Source：Department of East Asian and Pacific Affairs

December 31, 2025No. 549In a statement issued on December 31, Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said that China’s military exercises around Taiwan were destabilizing and risked inflaming regional tensions. It said that Australia opposed any actions that increased the risk of accident, miscalculation, or escalation, adding that Australian officials had raised concerns with Chinese counterparts.In addition, in a statement on the social media platform X, New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade expressed the country’s concern over China’s recent military exercises. The post called for China to exercise restraint and avoid actions that may undermine peace and stability.Following similar comments issued in April, these statements mark a further instance of Australia and New Zealand publicly opposing any unilateral changes to the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and calling on both sides to resolve their differences through dialogue rather than through force or coercion.Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung sincerely thanks Australia, New Zealand, and like-minded countries in the Indo-Pacific region and around the globe for once again demonstrating support for peace and security across the Taiwan Strait and for articulating a clear position on maintaining a stable status quo across the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan appreciates all countries continuing to pay close attention to the Taiwan Strait situation.The Ministry of Foreign Affairs reiterates that upholding peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait is the international consensus. As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will continue to cooperate with like-minded countries to jointly safeguard peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region and across the globe. (E)

Source: Republic of China Taiwan

December 31, 2025No. 548The European External Action Service (EEAS) and the foreign ministries of the United Kingdom, France, and Germany each issued statements on December 30 indicating serious concern over China’s recent large-scale joint military exercises around Taiwan. The statements stressed that cross-strait peace and stability were critical to global peace and prosperity and expressed opposition to any unilateral actions that increased cross-strait tensions. Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung expresses sincere gratitude for these statements, which once again demonstrate Europe’s staunch support of cross-strait peace and stability.The EEAS statement pointed out that the European Union had a direct interest in the preservation of the cross-strait status quo and that cross-strait peace and stability were of strategic importance to regional and global security and prosperity. Therefore, it continued, the EU opposed any unilateral actions that changed the status quo, in particular by force or coercion. The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office statement, meanwhile, underscored that cross-strait peace was critical to global prosperity and the UK economy and that the UK opposed the use of force or coercion in the Taiwan Strait or any unilateral attempt to alter the status quo. In its statement, the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs noted that cross-strait peace and stability were indispensable for global security and prosperity. It further stated that France was paying close attention to China’s military exercises and reiterated France’s support for cross-strait peace and stability and its opposition to the use of force or coercion to unilaterally change the cross-strait status quo. The German Federal Foreign Office statement stressed that China’s military exercises had exacerbated cross-strait tensions and had jeopardized cross-strait stability. Moreover, it said that cross-strait peace and stability were strategically important for regional and international security and prosperity and that any change to the status quo must be peaceful and agreed to by both sides. It also called for restraint and dialogue.Minister Lin expresses welcome and thanks for these friendly statements of support by the EU and key European countries. He notes that these statements fully demonstrate Europe’s high degree of concern about China’s improper use of military exercises to unilaterally increase cross-strait tensions. They also show that Europe staunchly supports the cross-strait status quo of peace and stability. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs stresses that the international community has a high degree of consensus about maintaining the cross-strait status quo of peace and stability. It calls on China to immediately cease its irresponsible, unilateral military provocations, respect the rules-based international order, and stop disrupting cross-strait and regional peace, stability, and security. As a responsible member of the international community, Taiwan will continue to work with the EU and like-minded countries to jointly safeguard the rules-based international order and promote global and regional peace, stability, and prosperity. (E)