TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Former Polish President Lech Walesa warned Tuesday (March 17) that Taiwan faces a dangerous three-way power struggle among Russia, China and the United States. The 82-year-old Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who spoke on the sidelines of the Smart City Summit & Expo (智慧城市展) in Taipei, said the post-World War II global order has collapsed, leaving Taiwan facing difficult choices as three major powers vie for supremacy. The former Solidarity leader did not specify what options Taiwan should pursue, saying only that the island "needs to choose" its own path.
"Taiwan has a very complicated situation due to the neighborhood of China," Walesa said through an interpreter. "I really would like to stress different important values and facts for Taiwan to take into consideration." The remarks came as tensions between Beijing and Taipei remain elevated, with China continuing to assert sovereignty claims over the self-governing island.
Walesa outlined three simultaneous bids for global dominance by major powers. He warned that if Russia conquers Ukraine, Moscow would become "the most important all over the world." The U.S. is "trying to conquer Greenland and be a leader," he said. China, meanwhile, "would like to conquer Taiwan and be number one," the former president added.
Walesa drew on his experience leading Poland's Solidarity movement, which helped end communist rule through nonviolent resistance in 1989. He argued that peaceful approaches achieve more than military force. Armed struggle would not have dismantled the Soviet Union or the Warsaw Pact, he noted. The movement he led ultimately contributed to the fall of communism across Eastern Europe.
Walesa is in Taiwan to attend the 2026 Yushan Forum (玉山論壇), a two-day government-funded event that opened March 16. The forum aims to strengthen ties with partners under the New Southbound Policy (新南向政策) introduced by former President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2016. It seeks to boost trade with 18 countries across Southeast Asia, South Asia and Oceania.
An electrician by trade, Walesa rose to lead the Solidarity trade union and spearheaded a pro-democracy movement that ended communist rule in Poland. In a separate interview with the Central News Agency's Focus Taiwan, he called on Chinese-speaking countries to unite to end communist rule. "We don't want Taiwan to be taken away by China by force," he said. ◼