Trump and Taiwan: unclear how a second term might handle cross-strait issues
- Now headed for a rematch with US President Joe Biden, Donald Trump suggested during his first administration the self-governing island was not a priority, analysts say
- If his indifference continues in a second term, one expert notes, it would be a ‘major geopolitical gift’ to Beijing
Donald Trump, the leading candidate to secure the Republican Party nomination for US president, has sparked a new debate, with months-old comments about Taiwan doing the rounds on social media.
In a clip recorded in July, the former president refuses to spell out whether the US would help to defend Taiwan during a possible second term, even if it meant going to war against Beijing.
Trump – who has often hailed himself as a deal maker – said that a direct answer would put him in a “very bad negotiating position”.
Trump kept the Taiwan card close to his chest – unlike the incumbent US president Joe Biden, who has said that America would get involved if Beijing invaded – but he expressed his unhappiness with the island’s success in becoming the planet’s leading semiconductor manufacturer.
“They took our business away,” he said.
“We should have stopped them. We should have taxed them. We should have tariffed them,” added Trump, who in 2018 initiated a trade war with Beijing.
