Cheng Li-wen Proposes 'East Asia Peace and Prosperity Chain' at Hoover Institution

(Central News Agency, reporter Liu Guanting, Taipei, June 3) Kuomintang Chairperson Cheng Li-wen visited the Hoover Institution at Stanford University on June 2 (U.S. time) for a seminar with scholars. She proposed the concept of an 'East Asia Peace and Prosperity Chain,' emphasizing that Taiwan should start from the First Island Chain and transform its anxiety over war into a driving force for building peace. She also called on the U.S. and China to transcend the zero-sum game framework and use technology and economics to jointly promote overall prosperity with regional countries.

Cheng is leading a delegation on a visit to the United States. The Kuomintang issued a press release today stating that Cheng visited the Hoover Institution, a world-class strategic think tank at Stanford University, for a seminar with scholars. The seminar was moderated by Kharis Templeman, Director of the Hoover Institution's Indo-Pacific Program.

Templeman thanked Cheng for choosing the Hoover Institution as the first stop of her U.S. visit, and Professor Larry Diamond introduced Cheng to the famous 'Hoover Tower.' Cheng emphasized that the Kuomintang has always highly valued Taiwan-U.S. relations, viewing them as the cornerstone of Taiwan's democratic freedom and economic prosperity, which is why she specifically chose the Hoover Institution as the first stop of her U.S. visit.

Cheng stated that the current East Asian landscape is undergoing a major strategic environmental shift. A new East Asian situation, interwoven by U.S.-China cooperation, cross-strait détente, and stable Japan-China relations, is quietly taking shape. She expressed that expecting peaceful stability through cross-strait dialogue and dialogue among all parties is the most core consensus for interaction at this stage. Everyone must firmly grasp this historic window of peace, starting from the First Island Chain, and transform anxiety over war into a driving force for building peace.

Regarding the strategic blueprint for Taiwan and the Asia-Pacific region, Cheng proposed three core priorities. First, she said Taiwan should build an 'AI National Defense Strategy.' In advanced technology and the semiconductor industry, Taiwan possesses an irreplaceable global advantage. In an era of rapid technological change, Taiwan must fully extend its technological advantages to the defense sector, deeply cultivating artificial intelligence (AI) in military command and decision-making, intelligence analysis, drone systems, and air defense networks, to achieve powerful asymmetric combat capability with the most reasonable costs and limited resources.

Second, Cheng said the Kuomintang hopes that in the future, Taiwan and the U.S. will deepen their substantive partnership in national defense security, supply chain resilience, and international participation. She noted that Taiwan's confidence in handling cross-strait relations largely stems from the unwavering support of the United States for Taiwan. Third, she advocated transcending zero-sum games to jointly build a new Asia-Pacific order. The two major powers, the U.S. and China, should transcend the outdated zero-sum game framework and use the dual engines of 'intertwined technology and economy' to jointly promote the overall prosperity and leap forward of the region with all countries in the region. When the cost of destroying peace becomes unbearable for all countries, peace is not just a choice but the only necessity for survival.

The Kuomintang stated that during the Q&A session, several American scholars raised questions on regional security, cross-strait issues, multilateral regional peace frameworks, and Taiwan's future development. Facing the complex history and geopolitical situation of concern to the U.S. side, Cheng emphasized that Taiwan possesses unique strategic value. In the Asia-Pacific security landscape, it is by no means a pawn to be manipulated but an active actor capable of positively defining its own future and committing to the international community to handle affairs peacefully. (Editors: Wan Shuzhang, Su Zhizong) 1150603