Taipei, Taiwan – Taiwan has religion within the assist of the USA, a high Taiwanese official has stated, regardless of widespread concern on the island that US President Donald Trump might use the East Asian democracy as a bargaining chip in its dealings with China.
“Taiwan and the US have a really sturdy and strong relationship, and Taiwan has cross-party assist from the US Congress,” Mainland Affairs Council Minister Chiu Chui-cheng stated in an unique interview with Al Jazeera.
Not like the US and China, “the US and Taiwan have unprecedentedly shut relations,” stated Chiu, whose cabinet-level portfolio covers Taiwan’s relations with mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.
Nonetheless, Chiu stated it was nonetheless too early to totally assess the impression of the second Trump administration.
“The Taiwan authorities will proceed to watch the Trump administration because it has been lower than three months,” he stated by an interpreter.
“Taiwan’s authorities has a really constant place of defending our sovereignty, our freedom and democracy.”
Trump made headlines in Taiwan in 2016 when he accepted a congratulatory cellphone name from then-Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, overturning a longstanding conference that US and Taiwanese presidents don’t talk straight.
Ties between the US and Taiwan continued to deepen all through Trump’s first time period and underneath former US President Joe Biden, with quite a few delegations of Democratic and Republican lawmakers visiting the island lately.
Since returning to the White Home, nonetheless, Trump has a launched a sequence of broadsides on the island, though US Secretary of State Marco Rubio stays a agency Taiwan supporter.
The US president has varyingly accused Taiwan of stealing the US chip business, argued that Taipei ought to pay for its personal defence, and threatened high Taiwanese chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Firm (TSMC) with a “one hundred pc tax” if it doesn’t broaden US-based manufacturing.
Trump additionally hit Taiwan with a 32 p.c “reciprocal” tariff – which has been paused till July – and expanded present metal and aluminium tariffs on its exports, amongst different initiatives.
Like most international locations, the US doesn’t have formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which China considers a part of its territory.
However Washington is dedicated to supporting the island’s defence underneath a 1979 legislation, although the laws doesn’t specify an obligation to straight intervene in a battle.
Whereas Taipei is taking a wait-and-see method, Trump’s “America First” rhetoric and politics have raised concern amongst many Taiwanese that he might abandon Taiwan to win concessions in commerce talks with China.
In a survey revealed by the Taiwanese Public Opinion Basis in March, simply 39.2 p.c of respondents stated they imagine the US would ship troops to defend Taiwan, down from an all-time excessive of 65 p.c in 2021.
Regardless of these fears, Chiu stated he believes that Washington would by no means settle for an “unreasonable request” from Beijing to change the phrases of its relationship with Taiwan.
China has pledged to “reunify” Taiwan with the Chinese language mainland, by drive if vital, though the ruling Communist Get together has by no means straight managed the island.
Chiu stated Taiwan has a lot to supply the US, from its strategic place inside Washington’s first island chain defence technique aimed toward checking Chinese language enlargement within the Pacific, to its place because the world’s foremost chipmaker.
“We predict that we will exhibit to the US individuals and to the US folks that Taiwan is an excellent companion, and we’re irreplaceable,” Chiu stated.
Chiu’s cabinet-level portfolio oversees the planning and implementation of Taiwan’s cross-strait coverage, though Beijing has been formally incommunicado with Taipei for the reason that Democratic Progressive Get together took energy in 2016.
Beijing considers the DPP “separatists” and has ramped up army, financial and diplomatic stress on the island over the previous 9 years.
‘United entrance’ techniques
Chiu stated that Taiwan’s authorities continues to attempt to talk with Beijing by official channels, in addition to liaising by intermediaries from the enterprise world, nonprofit sector and academia.
Chiu, nonetheless, criticised China’s communications with the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which he characterised as a part of Beijing’s divide and rule and “United Entrance” techniques employed in opposition to Taiwan.
The time period “United Entrance” refers to each an official division of the Chinese language Communist Get together and actions carried out by social gathering members to advertise the CCP agenda – together with convincing Taiwan’s 23.4 million residents that unification with China is each inevitable and fascinating, regardless of polling displaying most Taiwanese favour the established order of de facto independence.
“We’re always dealing with United Entrance techniques, infiltration and division in Taiwanese society. They’re in all places,” Chiu stated.
Taiwan’s Nationwide Safety Bureau prosecuted 64 individuals for espionage in 2024 – primarily lively members of the army and veterans – up from 48 in 2023 and 10 in 2022.
Different threats are extra instantly apparent, Chiu stated, such because the escalation of Chinese language army workouts and manoeuvres close to Taiwan over the previous 5 years.
China launched greater than 5,000 army flights within the course of Taiwan in 2024 alone, Chiu stated, together with about 3,000 that crossed the “median line” of the Taiwan Strait – an unofficial border dividing the strategic waterway between China and Taiwan.
Beijing additionally despatched greater than 2,500 warships within the course of Taiwan, with some coming into its contiguous waters, he stated, referring to the zone that’s adjoining to the territorial sea and extends a most of 24 nautical miles (44km) from shore.
Chiu stated he was most involved in regards to the management model of Chinese language President Xi Jinping.
Xi, who’s serving an unprecedented third time period after eliminating time period limits in 2018, is typically seen as essentially the most highly effective Chinese language chief since Mao Zedong, the founder of recent China.
“The Xi regime is a brand new sort of authoritarianism. He has been inciting a fanatic nationalism, and that’s why we’re seeing army hegemony and wolf warrior diplomacy,” Chiu stated.
“Mainland China proper now is just not a really rational decision-making social gathering, and this nationalism poses a terrific menace to its neighbouring international locations,” Chiu stated.
“In the event you ask me what issues me essentially the most, I’d say that it’s the essence of the Xi regime,” he stated.
