Going to the United States to attend the U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference, Chen Yongkang called for deepening Taiwan-U.S. cooperation and strengthening Taiwan's overall defense resilience.

The 25th "U.S.-Taiwan Defense Industry Conference" (USTBC 2026) was held in Williamsburg, Virginia, USA, in late October. Retired General Chen Yongkang, a KMT legislator and former deputy defense minister, was invited to attend and deliver a special speech on behalf of the KMT. He explained the KMT's defense policy, Taiwan-U.S. security cooperation stance and propositions for maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait to more than 250 Taiwan and U.S. government officials and defense industry representatives. The Kuomintang stated that it will continue to support strengthening Taiwan's self-defense capabilities, deepen Taiwan-US cooperation, and is committed to reducing cross-strait tensions through communication and dialogue, and contributing to Taiwan's security, prosperity, and regional peace.

The KMT stated that Chen Yongkang delivered a speech titled "Balancing Prosperity and Security: Examining Current Cross-Strait Challenges and Opportunities," reiterating the KMT's firm support for strengthening Taiwan's national defense and attaching great importance to the Taiwan-US security cooperation relationship. Chen Yongkang emphasized that the United States is Taiwan's most important security partner. The two sides have common interests in safeguarding Taiwan's security, prosperity and peace across the Taiwan Strait. They should continue to deepen cooperation based on mutual trust, open dialogue and respect for diverse viewpoints. Peace across the Taiwan Strait not only concerns regional stability, but also has a profound impact on global security and economic prosperity.

Chen Yongkang pointed out that in the face of rapidly changing geopolitical, strategic and economic environments, national security has long gone beyond the scope of traditional military defense and covers all aspects such as politics, finance, industry, transportation, energy, medical care and information security. Among them, energy supply stability, communication network security and critical infrastructure protection are as important as military defense capabilities and must be integrated into the overall national security strategy to comprehensively enhance Taiwan's social resilience.

In response to important issues such as artificial intelligence, Taiwan Shield and unmanned vehicles that are of concern to this session, Chen Yongkang further put forward specific policy suggestions. He emphasized that the use of artificial intelligence is not only to improve combat capabilities, but also to assist decision-makers in reducing the risk of misjudgment and avoiding conflicts. In addition, the system integration of Taiwan Shield, as well as the communication, command and control capabilities of unmanned vehicles, should be based on overall defense needs to strengthen cross-system coordination and actual operational effectiveness.

Chen Yongkang said that strengthening national defense cannot only be measured by the number of weapons, but should also pay attention to the overall defense system and the ability of society to continue to operate. Only by ensuring that energy, transportation, communications, medical care and key industries can still maintain operations during crises can a truly resilient national security system be established. Therefore, formulating a complete and forward-looking national security strategy is an important issue for Taiwan at present.

At the end of his speech, Chen Yongkang once again called on the international community to "Give Peace a Chance." He emphasized that maintaining peace across the Taiwan Strait requires continuous accumulation of mutual trust. In addition to deepening cooperation with the United States, efforts should also be made to build the confidence of the international community and Beijing in peace. The Kuomintang is willing to work with all sectors of the international community to reduce the risk of conflict and maintain peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the Indo-Pacific region through dialogue, cooperation and pragmatic actions.