Lai pushes democratic partnership at Yushan forumCLOSE COOPERATION The ninth Yushan Forum saw some old faces and some new ones as Lai spoke about building closer cooperation and trade in the Indo-PacificStaff writer, with CNAPresident William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for closer cooperation among democratic partners to strengthen supply chains and economic resilience, saying that Taiwan wanted to work with like-minded countries to form “international teams.”Speaking at the opening of the Yushan Forum in Taipei, Lai said Taiwan intends to leverage the many advantages of these partners to deepen cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond. “We strongly hope that by leveraging the combined advantages of our democracies, economies and technologies, Taiwan and our democratic partners can work together to build more resilient supply chains and economies,” he said. President William Lai, fifth right, former Polish president Lech Walesa, fourth right, former Fijian prime minister Mahendra Chaudhry, third right, give the thumbs up sign along with other officials and event guests at the opening of the Yushan Forum in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei TimesOne way Taiwan would encourage that, Lai said, was through the establishment of “teams” at different levels. Japanese lawmaker Keiji Furuya, who has attended all eight iterations of the forum, was present at the opening ceremony.
