Taiwan Tati Cultural and Educational Foundation

Taiwan would confront the destabilizing forces working against democracies while strengthening cooperation with democratic nations, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said in Taipei yesterday at an event marking the 20th anniversary of the state-financed Taiwan Foundation for Democracy.

Democratic nations and the rules-based international community are confronting their “greatest challenge” since the Cold War, Tsai said.

Authoritarian regimes are mounting an effort to “corrode our democratic institutions and undermine human rights” in a bid to spread societal distrust and weaken public confidence in democracy, she said.

The EU and Japan have long been close post-war allies.

However, there are growing signs their relationship is entering a “golden age,” with geopolitical and economic ramifications well beyond the bilateral partnership.

Grand terminology such as “golden” is, of course, subjective, and can be prone to reversal. For instance, the UK and China declared a “golden era” during the administration of then British prime minister David Cameron after 2010, but that has since been hastily jettisoned given the range of bilateral challenges.