Lin Ching-yi

"Constitutionally, and presently, we consider the Chinese Communist Party a menacing party and a menacing regime. They have missiles targeting us and have incessantly threatened to invade us by force."

"We are two separate political entities. Of course, we must also explain it to other international friends. That is, Taiwan and China are two countries that are in a bit of trouble. In our respective constitutions, they also put the other's territorial sovereignty in their own constitutions. This is the biggest trouble for both of us. However, in fact, if we look at the two countries at present, whether they are sovereignty, culture, or the entire political system of the country, they are basically two completely different countries."

"In terms of global knowledge about Taiwan, more could certainly be done. And we would need it. Let's start with how we are called: our official name is still the Republic of China but now most of our population prefer to say that our name is Taiwan. As far as we are concerned, we would very much like to become friends or partners with a larger number of countries around the world, but it is not a simple matter. In our history, most of the time governments have focused only on the relationship with mainland China. We have changed this line, trying to diversify international relations."

"About a more pragmatic approach in relations with China, from my point of view I believe that real advantages for both of us, Taipei and for Beijing, can only come from a normal relationship and a balanced dialogue between country and country, between party and party. This is something that can only happen if Taiwan strengthens its democratic system and its international role."

"I believe that China needs to address its own internal problems, from Xinjiang to Tibet, and when they manage to fix them and they can be more stable the discussion between us will be easier."

"According to some, Beijing may need to try to recover Taiwan with greater urgency, while others think it should focus more attention on its internal problems. From my point of view, I believe that China should really focus on its own internal problems because otherwise it risks one day following the same parabola of Russia and maybe it will need to reorganize in several small regions with greater autonomy than now."

"It is often difficult to explain to people why democracy is important. Even in Taiwan, even if we are a young democracy, it is not a simple mission. It is enough to look at the previous local elections to understand that even here it happens that hope for economic growth is placed before democratic values."

"We are in a complicated situation but we are trying to maintain and increase our democracy and our values. We are rather isolated and unsupported within international society but our responsibility is to promote cooperation on practical issues, such as public health, climate change or human rights, but also on democratic values. The rest of the world should do the same with us."

"Taiwan will be a beautiful country. A normal country. We need time to change, the road is long but we will continue to follow it."