← Bc. Jan Lipavský

👀 Read my speech in Taiwan (Taipei, Wushan Forum, March 16, 2026). Minister Lin, Your Excellencies, ambassadors, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, Thank you very much for the invitation and for the opportunity to speak at this prestigious forum. It is a privilege to be here in Taipei and to participate in the Yushan Forum, which has become an important platform connecting Taiwan with partners who believe in democracy, innovation, and resilience. Allow me to start with a simple observation about the world we live in today. In Europe, a full-scale war has been raging for more than four years. In the Middle East, war has been spreading since October 7, 2023, and has escalated into direct exchanges between Israel and Iran. In Asia, large-scale war between major powers has not yet erupted. My question is: for how long? Because today the security of Europe and the security of the Indo-Pacific are no longer separate. They are deeply connected. Taiwan stands at the center of this connection. What happens in Europe sends a signal to the Indo-Pacific. If aggression succeeds in one region, it becomes a temptation in another. The war in Ukraine is therefore not only a European conflict. It is a global test of whether aggression pays off. If borders can be changed by force in one region, that lesson will travel quickly to other regions. That is why the outcome matters not only for Europe, but for the stability of the entire international system. Ukraine offers a remarkable lesson. A country of roughly thirty-five million people, fighting a large-scale invasion, has within just two years built one of the fastest-growing defense innovation ecosystems in the world. Ukrainian engineers and soldiers have fielded new long-range strike systems, cruise missiles, and entire fleets of FPV drones. They have integrated digital tools, battlefield data, and artificial intelligence directly into real combat operations. In many ways, Ukraine has become a laboratory of twenty-first century warfare. But Ukraine is not the only side learning. Russia is scaling its own production of attack drones and adapting faster than many expected. Tens of thousands of strike drones have already been launched against Ukrainian cities. And crucially, Russia’s ability to sustain this war increasingly depends on external inputs — critical components moving through global supply chains. In other words, the war in Europe already has a global industrial dimension. Russia, Iran and China increasingly reinforce one another through technology transfers, energy flows, sanctions evasion and strategic distraction. Iranian drone technology fuels Russian attacks. Russian military technology circulates in return. Chinese industry provides critical depth in components and manufacturing. Pressure in one region enables pressure in another. At the same time, technology is changing the nature of power at extraordinary speed. Artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities, autonomous systems and mass-produced drones are transforming warfare. We have entered a world where toys become weapons overnight — a world of commercial off-the-shelf warfare and the democratization of precision strike. Small hobby aircraft, commercial drones, devices that once belonged to garages and workshops are now capable of destroying tanks, ships and critical infrastructure. In such a world, the line between civilian technology and military power has almost disappeared. Economic security and technological resilience have become inseparable from national security. And that is precisely why Taiwan matters. Taiwan is not only a regional actor. It is a leading technological power, a key node in global supply chains, and a vibrant democracy. The resilience of Taiwan is therefore not just a regional issue. It is part of the resilience of the democratic world. (1/2)Kopírovat text

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