As a governmental delegate, [I] should not take a side in a domestic election in the U.S. because it is after all the choice to be made by the Americ… - Hsiao Bi-khim

There is a longer-term threat and that is, China hasn’t renounced the use of force to absorb Taiwan, and that is not a new threat. It’s been there for decades.

Taiwanese people have lived under military threat from China over several decades. It will continue to be a problem for the people of Taiwan as long as the Chinese do not renounce the use of force. However, we are in the dynamic process of enhancing our capabilities of curbing its threats. I see that we are in a position to deter the Chinese by making it their consideration of an invasion too costly to operationalize.

We are in a period of complicated politics and a geostrategic situation. Certainly the imperative is there to initiate negotiations. That is very much Taiwan's agenda. We certainly hope that the U.S. would share that view and also work with us to proceed with negotiations.