Taiwan deserves a “rightful place” among worldwide democracies and sovereign states, and is the starting place in bringing back “democracy’s ambition” amid global democratic backsliding, former Lithuanian deputy minister of foreign affairs Mantas Adomenas said yesterday.

At a luncheon speech at the Yushan Forum in Taipei, Adomenas said the world is witnessing “the rise of politics of nostalgia,” with Russia seeking to restore the Soviet Union, China aspiring for “imperial superpower status,” and Iran embracing a “backward, inhumane theocratic vision.”

However, there is no return to the past, he said, while calling on democracies to become “proactive and assertive, to regain the initiative in global agenda-setting.”

Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

“We need to rebuild a powerful democratic narrative, adapting it to the realities of the 21st century, taking on board into its formulation, as its integral part, experiences and concerns of societies outside the West,” he said.

Taiwan’s rightful place is “in the community of democracies and among the world’s sovereign nations,” he said.

Taiwan is also the place “where the future takes place, not only in new technologies, but also in setting new standards and broaching new frontiers in democratic politics and the practice of human rights,” he said.

Photo: Chang Chia-ming, Taipei Times

“That’s why this is the right place to start systematic thinking about bringing back democracy’s ambition,” he said.

Adomenas served as Lithuanian deputy minister of foreign affairs from December 2020 to August 2023 under then-Lithuanian minister of foreign affairs Gabrielius Landsbergis and was a member of the Lithuania-Taiwan Parliamentary Friendship Group.

He is now secretary-general of the Community of Democracies, a Poland-based institution dedicated to advancing democratic resilience, countering disinformation, protecting civil society, and promoting the participation of women and young people in public life.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) on the same occasion said that Taiwan has to shore up its alliances, as the People’s Republic of China intensifies its intimidation and coercion to change the “status quo” in Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan has encouraged more global partners to support Taipei in international organizations, and in deepening economic and trade relations to jointly uphold a free and stable Indo-Pacific, Wu said.

“Taiwan looks forward to working more closely with the global democratic community to defend our shared values against authoritarian expansionism and strengthen mutually beneficial ties,” he said.

Yesterday was the second day of the two-day Yushan Forum with the theme of “New Southbound Policy+: Taiwan, the Indo-Pacific and a New World.”

The annual forum, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, aims to include more like-minded partners in discussions on how Taiwan is taking advantage of smart, digital and innovative solutions to promote the so-called “Digital New Southbound Policy,” organizers said.