Taiwan's Vice President Hsiao Bi-khim says Beijing, not Taiwan, is the one acting provocatively, and Taiwan's goal is to settle differences peacefully while building up its defenses — a firm but non-escalatory stance that's reassuring for Taiwan's partners and a rebuke to China.

• Chinese military pressure has grown in recent years as the PLA expands its reach beyond its borders, squeezing not just Taiwan but the Philippines and other neighbors.
• China is using "salami-slicing" gray-zone tactics, ignoring the long-respected median line in the Taiwan Strait, to create new facts on the ground.
• Taiwan is following President Lai's "four pillars of peace" plan: no provocation, but no giving up basic freedoms and democracy either.
• The government is pushing lawmakers across parties to back homegrown drone systems as a key part of self-defense.
• Hsiao dismissed talk of an attack in the next few years as hypothetical, saying every security move and partnership is aimed at preventing one.

Outlook: Taiwan will keep offering goodwill to Beijing while strengthening its military, deepening ties with international partners, and trying to spread prosperity beyond its chip industry — with Hsiao warning that Taiwan "can have goodwill, but cannot be naive."