Last night Taiwanese were celebrating Lunar New Year’s Eve. Trump’s tariffs-on-chips statement certainly added some fireworks.

Taiwanese people want to believe in Trump. Our pro-democracy media mostly covers him in a positive light. But his comments on Greenland, Canada, and Panama, remind us of the uncertainty that comes with Trump 2.0. He may not mean it literally but we should take it seriously.

I personally believe that integrating foreign policy with economic policy is the way to make our diplomatic ties more resilient. To strengthen the national brand of "Taiwan" through economic exchange is an alternative way to balance the diplomatic challenges we are facing.

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What I told CNN is that no single person can "save" Taiwan, either Trump or Lai, only strong alliance of democracies can make a difference. Taiwan's relations with diplomatic allies are very important, especially those in the Pacific region.

No matter who wins, national leaders should know that for the region, China’s claims and actions are dangerous. They are also claiming the South China Sea, areas in the border with India, and islands in Japan. This can definitely lead to a broader conflict.

Xi Jinping has said Taiwanese are all descendants of Emperors Yan and Huang. It's ridiculous. They are just characters from Chinese mythology. Some might have different family ties, but we are not all “Chinese sons and daughters”. Xi’s reasons for claiming Taiwan don’t hold up.

Taiwanese did not speak Mandarin until 1945, when we were forced by the new Chinese regime at that time. I myself speak Pangcah, which is a Taiwanese indigenous language. Just like people in the US speaks English doesn’t mean the US should “go back” to the UK. That’s absurd.

The Qing dynasty never conquered the eastern half of Taiwan, which is where I am from. Then at the end of the 19th century, Taiwan became part of the Japanese empire for over 50 years. The whole idea that Taiwan is “an inalienable part of China“ is nonsense.

China has been spreading misinformation saying that Taiwan has been part of China for hundreds of thousands of years. This is false. In the 17th century, Spain, the Netherlands, and imperial China established colonies in Taiwan, but none of them ever ruled the island.

Taiwan is definitely not a part of China, that is the reality on the ground and what Taiwanese people believe.

The ROC constitution originally spoke of “heritage” territory, the vague definition added by the KMT in 1947 before losing the civil war and fleeing to Taiwan. The current ROC refers only to Taiwan, Penghu, Jinman, Matsu and other islands. It's the decision we made in the 1990’s.

The ROC constitution does not and has never really defined it’s territory. The current ROC (Taiwan) in 1991 voted to include “additional provisions” which clarify its authority of governance does not cover “mainland” China. ROC (Taiwan) ＆ PRC (China) are two different countries.

We are not "separatists". We are patriots. We are not afraid of China.

What is happening to Philippines shows China doesn’t respect boundaries. We Taiwanese know.

Sometimes you just have to say no to your neighbor. Philippines is not alone. Or Vietnam. Taiwanese people share concerns about China’s behavior at sea.

TikTok is a problem for many countries. Although banned for government use in Taiwan, according to TWNIC, 22.3% of Taiwanese are on it, mostly young people 18-29 years old. Absorbing misinformation and fake news.

Russia and China have no reasonable argument to justify attacking Ukraine or Taiwan, but they flood our social media with hate and propaganda. This has a real impact on public opinion. They already declared war on democracy, many people just haven’t realized it.

Wang Yi is wrong. People who have cultural connections don’t have to belong to the same country. It’s cruel for China to use such extreme nationalist discourse to justify attacking Taiwan.

Good to see European leaders speak up.