Hsiao Bi-khim, part of the DPP foreign policy brain trust and a promising member of its younger generation, leads a live discussion with a pro-KMT academic in the Washington Post...Taipei, Taiwan: Everybody claims to be peace-loving, including the warmongers in Beijing. Everybody wants to protect themselves by cultivating allies. But in the end, if you are not willing to do whatever it takes to defend yourself, you cannot defend the peace or win allies. Taiwan seems to lack that will. What is your view on this matter, and why should the Taiwanese look to the international community for protection if they aren't willing to make the necessary sacrifices to maintain a strong military?[Taiwan] [DPP]Ms. Bi-Khim Hsiao and Dr. Chih-cheng Lo: Hsiao: The people of Taiwan have fought long and hard for the democratic institutions that we enjoy today. As such we are committed to defending the system that we all worked to create, preferably through diplomatic means, but under the existing military threat from China we are also committed to strengthening our national defense. The government has submitted a special budget proposal to enhance our military preparedness. Unfortunate, this particular proposal has been blocked by the opposition parties in parliament thus far, but efforts to enhance our defense and to garner opposition party support on this will be continuously pursued by this government
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