While Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te delivered a Double Ten speech, on the other side of the world, former President Tsai Ing-wen was also creating a new chapter in Taiwan’s international narrative.
Taiwan is a key partner in #defense innovation and technology and a practitioner of #democracyresilience
Tsai Ing-wen's first visit to the United States after retiring as president lasted for a whole week and only visited one place: the San Francisco Bay Area in California, including Silicon Valley. In addition to visiting former House Speaker Pelosi and the Double Ten Dinner, the highlight of this trip was two public speeches at Stanford University. President Tsai’s first speech was at the Stanford Graduate School of Business’s annual Defense Innovation Technology Industry Conference (Stanford DEFCON), where he elaborated on Taiwan’s technological production capabilities. The second speech was at the Hoover Institution, which focuses on studying the dynamics of global democracy and freedom, where he discussed Taiwan’s democratic resilience.
In the first session, at 8 o'clock in the morning, former President Tsai spoke of Taiwan's growing importance in the global defense technology industry to a standing ovation from more than a thousand Stanford DEFCON attendees. When talking about Taiwan's production capacity, she took the example of the national mask team that gathered 92 production lines from 29 companies within 40 days during the COVID-19 epidemic. She pointed out that Taiwan's manufacturing capabilities performed very well. "As long as there is a common goal, Taiwan's industrial momentum is very amazing." She called on Taiwan not only as the country in the world that needs the most innovation in defense science and technology, but also as the partner that needs the most in innovation in defense science and technology.
The organizer asked whether overseas investment in Taiwan’s proud semiconductor industry has caused Taiwan’s “silicon shield” losses. Tsai Ing-wen answered without haste. With the explosive growth in demand for semiconductor chips around the world, setting up overseas factories is a reasonable expansion consideration. It also provides more precise local services to customers in various overseas markets. Investment overseas and original production lines are not a zero-sum game. The organizer also asked Taiwan how to choose between "traditional defense weapons" and "asymmetric warfare." She directly answered that "our defense needs both."
The second Hoover Institution speech focused on "democratic resilience." She mentioned that Taiwan is a unique case that can simultaneously complete peaceful democratic transformation and consolidation in the face of extreme external pressure. Former President Tsai said that Taiwanese society likes to bicker and quarrel, but this is the normal state of democracy, and everyone already has a bottom line consensus, which is Taiwan's democratic system. Resilience is also the growth experience gained after constantly facing and handling crises along the way. Each experience is the fundamental factor that makes Taiwan resilient.
The profound message released at the timing of the visit
In addition to the content of President Tsai’s speech, the itinerary itself has a far-reaching significance during President Tsai’s trip.
First, the favorite arrangement of outgoing politicians' travel itineraries is to visit the overseas Chinese community and celebrate with their supporters, but Tsai Ing-wen chose the completely opposite route-attending the largest mainstream annual defense science and technology conference in the United States and a well-established center for geopolitical research to talk with mainstream decision-makers.
Of the two public talks, the first, DEFCON, has been held for the fourth year. Every year, it gathers American giants related to defense technology, such as a16z investor Marc Andreessen in 2025. In addition to President Tsai this year, speakers on the same stage include the current U.S. Chief of Staff (Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) Gen. Dan Caine, heads of major Silicon Valley venture capital funds, U.S. Navy and Space Force generals, and various large and small technology companies, many of which are brands that already have in-depth exchanges with Taiwan.
The Hoover Institution was established by President Hoover of the United States after World War I in 1919. It is a century-old institution for global democracy and freedom (it is also the institution that has collected Chiang Kai-shek's autographed diaries for many years). That day, Tsai Ing-wen was introduced to the stage by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In the audience were former Admiral Jim Ellis, former Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul, and other people who have long been concerned about how world democracies can combat the spread of authoritarianism.
Tsai Ing-wen gave up the opportunity to interact with the overseas Chinese community and chose to explain Taiwan in English to the above-mentioned communities, which can be said to be a diplomatic breakthrough for #Taiwan. Tsai Ing-wen is the most suitable person to do this; not only because of her language skills, but also because the name Tsai Ing-wen has established a high degree of recognition in the international democratic narrative. As former Secretary of State Rice said in his introduction: "There is no one else who can speak to being at the front line between democracy and authoritarianism like President Tsai."
Second, Tsai Ing-wen chose the San Francisco Bay Area as the location for her first visit to the United States after leaving office, and it was also the only location.
Editors in the Bay Area are often asked, "Since we are engaged in U.S.-Taiwan geopolitics, why do we engage in technology instead of moving to Washington or Taipei?" In fact, U.S.-Taiwan relations themselves are deeply affected by Silicon Valley; the construction of the #U.S.-Taiwan technology industry chain has relied on the connection between Taiwan and Silicon Valley in the past few decades, whether it is the strong network of Taiwanese engineers and investors, or the discussion, complementarity and cooperation between U.S. and Taiwan companies. Former President Tsai understands this very well, as can be seen from the many mentions of Taiwan and Silicon Valley in her national policies when she first took office.
More importantly, #global trends have already evolved to focus on technological innovation and technological industrialization. Industrialization is the main driving force that has a profound impact on national strength and even affects the future of mankind. This includes key basic technologies such as energy, agriculture, and communications. Of course, the most direct one is national defense armed technology. Today's conflicts are not just about whose army is bigger and whose strategy is smarter, but who's innovative breakthroughs are faster. Apparently Tsai Ing-wen also believes that in order to further enhance US-Taiwan relations, the focus is no longer just on the purely political cities of Taipei and Washington, but on California, which is the closest place between the two places. The narrative power of U.S.-Taiwan relations has long been controlled by the personnel circle in Washington, Taipei. This time, President Tsai chose the Bay Area as the only destination to visit the United States. President Tsai may have some kind of plan to "open up a new third way for the U.S.-Taiwan narrative."
Perhaps the most important point is that although President Tsai plays the role of speaking out to the world on behalf of Taiwan, her speech did not have the tone of "Taiwan needs help" at all, begging for help for Taiwan. Instead, she demonstrated Taiwan's advantages to the world, and then #persuaded the world of the inevitability of becoming a partner with Taiwan.
Tsai Ing-wen whirlwind
Several of our editors living in the Bay Area were on hand to observe President Tsai. After Tsai Ing-wen left office, people can feel her calmness, confidence, and humor even more. She told everyone many times: “A lot of people think I am kind of…boring. OK, I’m calm. But maybe that’s not a bad thing these days.” “A lot of people think I am kind of…boring. OK, I’m calm. But maybe that’s not a bad thing these days.” Professor Diamond asked Taiwan what else it has contributed to the world besides the semiconductor industry. President Tsai replied, "Well, isn't it enough that we help everyone make semiconductors?" When asked by American students about TSMC going to set up factories in the United States, Tsai Ing-wen did not forget to smile and pointed out in the end, "Not to mention, your president asked for it."
Participants at DEFCON and Hoover Institution said afterwards that they had not known President Tsai from Taiwan before, but after experiencing her style, they can fully understand why she is so loved by everyone.
On the last night, President Tsai met with young technology entrepreneurs and investors at the consulate in San Francisco. It was obvious that she was tired after a whole week, but she was completely involved with the audience. The cheers continued. Many people even sent small gifts during the open audience question and answer time, which made President Tsai exclaim, "How can this become like a graduation ceremony!?"
Former President Tsai Ing-wen and her staff clearly understand her unique importance in the global narrative. From the arrangement of this trip and the words of her speech, we can feel President Tsai’s intention to upgrade Taiwan’s narrative. For the outgoing head of state, these are not things she has to do, but what other ideas and plans she has next are worth looking forward to.
