On the eve of the Trump-Xi meeting, national security figures from many countries gathered in Taipei to launch the 2026 International Forum on Whole-of-Society Defense Resilience.

On the eve of the Trump-Xi meeting, national security figures from many countries will gather in Taipei this Saturday. The "2026 International Forum on Whole-Society Defense Resilience" invited nearly 500 domestic and foreign representatives from industry, government and academia, including former U.S. deputy national security advisers Matt Pottinger and Anne Neuberger across the Trump and Biden administrations, and Palmer Luckey, founder of U.S. defense technology unicorn Anduril. They all came to give lectures in person. At this critical moment in the struggle between the United States and China, they used actions to convey a clear message that the international community supports Taiwan and values ​​peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. President Lai Qingde and Vice President Xiao Meiqin will also deliver opening and closing speeches respectively.

The "2026 International Forum on Whole-Society Defense Resilience" will be attended by nearly 500 domestic and foreign government officials, national security experts and scholars, and representatives of enterprises and chambers of commerce to discuss issues such as military-civilian integration, network security, critical infrastructure protection, and gray zone threats. The forum enters its second session this year. In addition to reviewing Taiwan's progress in promoting the defense resilience of the whole society over the past two years, it will also share practical experience with other countries.

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The opening of the forum was a highlight. Palmer Luckey, founder of the U.S. defense technology company Anduril Industries, will deliver a keynote speech titled "Responding to New Types of Threats and Modern Warfare." He will analyze how democratic countries can improve their defense capabilities and respond to new types of security threats from the perspective of technological development and changes in war patterns.

A number of current and former national security officials from the Indo-Pacific region and democratic allies will also attend the meeting, including Trump's first-term deputy national security adviser Bomin, Biden's White House deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technologies Newberg, former Philippine national security adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., and Palau's current national security coordinator Jennifer Anson. The visit of representatives from the United States, Japan, the Philippines, Palau and many European countries to Taiwan shows that Taiwan's defense resilience has become a security issue of common concern to its democratic partners.

Director of the American Institute in Taiwan Joseph Ku, Representative of the British Office in Taiwan Pao Qiong-yu, and Director of the European Economic and Trade Office Alex Kool will jointly review the observations of international partners on Taiwan's defense resilience in the past year at the noon session. At the closing session, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu will hold a dialogue with Boming and Newberg, two former US deputy national security advisers, on the topic of "Are We Ready?" to review Taiwan's current level of preparedness and where cooperation with allies and allies can still be strengthened.

This year's International Forum on Whole-Society Defense Resilience has arranged a total of 8 themed discussions, covering "Whole-Society Defense Resilience Preparation," "Military-Civil Integration Exercises and Practices," "Public-Private Cooperation and Social Resilience," "Psychological Defense," "Building Maritime Resilience to Deal with Gray Zone Threats," "Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection," "Taiwan's Security and Resilience Partnership," and "Whole-Society Defense from a Citizen's Perspective." International panellists include Japanese Senator Hirofumi Takiami, senior manager of the NATO Strategic Communications Center of Excellence Janis Karlsberg, Director of the Center for Cyber ​​and Technology Innovation at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Mark Montgomery, and former Deputy Minister of Defense of Lithuania Tomas Godliauskas. The agenda ranges from national security, defense technology, strategic communications, cyber security to civil defense, covering various government and civilian resilience preparations.

According to reports, another significance of this forum will be to confirm the specific progress of the Presidential Office Committee's work on the defense resilience of the whole society in the past two years. In particular, the collaborative mechanism of the government, private sector, enterprises and communities has gradually taken shape, and relevant exercises have also moved from policy discussions to practical operations. In the past, Taiwan mainly learned from the experiences of other countries. Now it has been able to share with the world its practices in responding to natural disasters, complex threats, information manipulation, and critical infrastructure risks. Its role is changing from an experience learner to an international partner.

It is worth noting that because the forum will be held on the eve of the Trump-Xi meeting next week, important security officials and experts from many countries will come to Taiwan for exchanges, and use actions to convey a clear message that the international community supports Taiwan and values ​​peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. It is pointed out that in the face of new types of threats, Taiwan will uphold the spirit of "peace depends on strength, and strength depends on resilience", continue to strengthen self-defense and social preparedness, and expand cooperation with the Democratic Alliance to safeguard Taiwan's democracy, freedom and regional peace.