Taiwan is committed to defending itself if its democracy is threatened, President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) said yesterday, warning of “catastrophic consequences” if it were to fall to China.

Framing cross-strait tensions as a contest between authoritarian and liberal regimes, Tsai wrote in an article in Foreign Affairs magazine that Taiwan “is a liberal democracy on the frontlines of a new clash of ideologies,” but remains committed to “democratic, progressive values.”