President Tsai Ing-wen is set to give an address at this year’s Copenhagen Democracy Summit. The annual summit is organized by non-profit organization the Alliance of Democracies Foundation.
In previous years, the summit has seen champions of democracy from around the world gather in Copenhagen’s Royal Danish Playhouse. Speakers have included former US Vice President Joe Biden and former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
This year’s event will be entirely virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Tsai is set to give her speech on Thursday. But while Tsai will not be heading to Denmark to deliver her address, her invitation to such a high-profile event in the first place still has Danish media outlets talking. That’s because of questions about how China will react.
The founder of the Alliance of Democracies Foundation, former Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, defended Tsai’s invitation on Monday. During an interview with Denmark’s TV2, Rasmussen said Tsai has been invited because her strong performance in this year’s election means that she is able to represent Taiwan. He also said that Taiwan’s response to COVID-19 has been better than that of authoritarian China.
He said that democratic nations should hold fast to the principal of freedom of speech. He said that they should come together when facing China and not let China use and oppress them.
Denmark’s foreign minister has rejected Chinese criticism of Tsai’s invitation. He says that freedom of speech and freedom of assembly are protected by Denmark’s constitution. He says that as an official, he will not interfere in an event being held by a private organization.