00:00An international forum in Taipei is bringing together dozens of policy makers, civil society
00:06groups and experts.
00:08The goal is to address ways that democracies can work together to face growing global challenges.
00:14This is the first time the Forum 2000 Foundation has held an event in Asia.
00:19The organization, based in the Czech Republic, is focused on promoting democracy and human
00:24rights.
00:25The event will feature discussions on countering authoritarian influence, strengthening democratic
00:30resilience and deepening cooperation between Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
00:35The head of the organization says the war in Ukraine has demonstrated that cooperation
00:40across regions is important.
00:42There are many connections.
00:43We can see a lot of cooperation going on economically.
00:48We can see a lot of cooperation going on on security issues.
00:52We can see cooperation, for example, happening vis-Ă -vis Ukraine, as well as other fragile
00:58points in international relations.
01:00The idea of the coalitions of the willing, the coalitions around specific issues, around
01:07shared interests as well as shared values, it makes sense and it can be the way forward.
01:14There will also be a strong focus on how smaller and middle-sized democracies can work more closely
01:19together.
01:20Taiwan's top diplomat for European affairs says that's particularly important for Taiwan.
01:26This is essential not to only count on the big geopolitics, but also for a smaller,
01:35middle and smaller democracies to reinforce each other's strengths and also to support each
01:44other in the face of authoritarian challenges.
01:48The forum comes as Taiwan faces growing threats to its own democracy from China, which sees Taiwan as
01:54its territory and has threatened to use force to take it.
01:58As Beijing works to limit Taiwan's presence on the international stage, Taipei has increasingly
02:03emphasized cooperation with like-minded democracies.
02:07More recently, Taiwan has been focused on deepening ties with Europe specifically, with the Czech Republic seen as one of
02:14its closest partners in the region.
02:15And over the next few days here in Taipei, we'll see even more of these kinds of exchanges take place.
02:21Leon Lien and Cadence Granta in Taipei for Taiwan Plus.
02:26Leon Lien and Cadence Granta in Taipei for Taiwan
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