You are the first openly transgender minister anywhere in the world. So, you know, a first there.

You were involved in the Sunflower student protests in 2014 to try to avoid the fast tracking of a trade bill with China.

You’ve broken many glass ceilings. You’re a hacker turned minister. You were a child prodigy. You established your own technology company at the age of 15.

I mean, is he right? Is Taiwan effectively engaged in a cyber war with China?

..from China, I put it to you that Kitsch Yen-Fan from the global China hub at the Atlantic Council says, “We are already at war. This is a constant thing.”

All right, as you say, quite rightly, you face cyber attacks, millions every day…

I mean, Taiwan is the reddest of red lines for China, isn’t it?

Because the Foreign Minister of Taiwan, Joseph Wu, says “China’s behavior is provocative and threatening regional peace and stability.”

You sound quite relaxed about it, if I may say, Minister Tang.

We’ve seen increased military activity, spy planes, bombers, missiles being fired over the Taiwan Strait. Surely, you cannot discount the possibility that there could be a military conflict.

So you’ve got this timeframe.

But now, according to intelligence in the United States, President Xi wants to accelerate the program and unify Taiwan by 2027.

OK, because China has claimed Taiwan as part of its territory since 1949.

So people have not been at all worried by this renewed threat?

Just sum up briefly the mood for us, the reaction to that possibly new threat.

President Xi of China reiterated at the recent Chinese Communist Party Congress that “China wants to strive for the prospect of peaceful unification with Taiwan,” but that he will “never promise to give up the option to use force.”

Minister Audrey Tang in Taipei, welcome to HARDtalk.

Beijing claims Taiwan is part of its territory and in the past few months has carried out hundreds of military sources near Taiwan leading to speculation that it is preparing for an invasion. Taiwan has also been subjected to cyberattacks from China. My guest is the Taiwanese digital minister, Audrey ...

Welcome to this special edition of “HARDtalk” with me, Zeinab Badawi, from the Taiwanese capital, Taipei. People here in Taiwan which is self-governed live under a constant threat from China which lies about 160 kilometers across the waters.