President Lai Ching-te (賴清德) spoke at the opening ceremony of the 2025 Yushan Forum, themed New Southbound Policy+: Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific, and a New World. The exchange began on Monday and will continue through to Tuesday evening.
The president first welcomed the foreign delegates who came to Taiwan to express their support for a peaceful and stable Taiwan and a free and open Indo-Pacific region. He pointed out that the Yushan Forum is not only an important platform, but has also attracted more than 3,600 participants from Taiwan and 28 other countries over the past eight years, deepening the connection between Taiwan and the world. Lai added that with the forum, the New Southbound Policy has achieved fruitful results in economic and trade cooperation, talent exchange, resource sharing, and regional links.
To embrace the era of comprehensive intelligence, President Lai said that the government session of this year's Yushan Forum has specially set up topics such as smart healthcare, smart transportation, and chip supply chain resilience. He also emphasized that Taiwan today not only has achievements recognized by the international community, but also has high-tech industries that can play a key role in the restructuring of the global democratic supply chain and the reconstruction of the economic order.
Lai underscored that in the face of a critical moment of global transformation and change, Taiwan will work together with like-minded countries to jointly respond to the threats and challenges of authoritarian expansion. Through exchanges such as the Yushan Forum, Taiwan will lay a more solid foundation for mutual dialogue and cooperation and work to build a more inclusive, resilient, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, jointly safeguarding the values of democracy, freedom, and peace.