Taiwan ‘willing to take on more’ defense responsibility after Trump barb

Former President Donald Trump ’s complaints about Taiwan ’s relationship with the United States has startled leaders in Taipei, where officials are hastening to counter his criticisms ahead of a potential return to the White House

"Taiwan has steadily strengthened its defense budget and demonstrated its responsibility to the international community,” Taiwanese Premier Cho Jung-tai told reporters. “We are willing to take on more responsibility; we are defending ourselves and ensuring our security.”

Taiwan has emerged as a dangerous hot spot in recent years, as the progress of China’s military modernization project is giving teeth to Beijing’s to bring the island democracy under the communist regime’s control. President Joe Biden has stated repeatedly that the United States would intervene on behalf of Taiwan if China were to launch an invasion, but Trump has struck a more detached posture in recent days.

“I think Taiwan should pay us for defense,” Trump told Bloomberg in an interview published this week.
“You know, we’re no different than an insurance company. Taiwan doesn’t give us anything.”

Those remarks suggest that Taiwan will not be exempt from the Republican standard-bearer’s general perception that the United States suffers military expenses and economic costs through relations with many countries across the U.S. alliance network. American strategists have valued a strong relationship with Taiwan for decades, given the strategic value of the island’s location in a chain of U.S. and allied military bases in the Pacific — and Taiwanese officials have been an enthusiastic customer for the U.S. defense industry, as some Republican lawmakers noted in response to Trump.

"Taiwan is a perfect example of what we want all our allies to do,” House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) told FocusTaiwan on Wednesday. “They have consistently been one of the biggest buyers of U.S. weapons for its defense.”

The geographical value of Taiwan compounded in recent decades by the development of the Taiwanese semiconductor microchip industry into a titan in the global economy, to Trump’s chagrin.

“I wouldn’t feel so secure right now, if I was them, but remember this: Taiwan took our chip business from us, I mean, how stupid are we?” he said. “They took all of our chip business. They’re immensely wealthy. And I don’t think we’re any different from an insurance policy. Why? Why are we doing this?”

Those skeptical questions could portend more turbulence in U.S.-Taiwan relations if Trump returns to power than Taiwanese authorities might have expected given their experience during his presidency. As president-elect, Trump had a phone call with the Taiwanese president — irritating Beijing, which claims sovereignty over the island and insists that foreign governments should not treat authorities in Taipei like leaders of a country.  In the final days of his presidency, the State Department announced a lifting of restrictions on official contacts between the two governments.

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In between those gestures, Trump’s national security team worked to orchestrate the construction of a Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company factory in Arizona — a deal widely perceived as a “win for Trump” and a victory for U.S. efforts to secure a reliable source of the most advanced microchips. But Trump called the value of those deals into question in his latest remarks.

“They took almost 100% of our chip industry, I give them credit,” he said. “Now we’re giving them billions of dollars to build new chips in our country, and then they’re going to take that too; in other words, they’ll build it but then they’ll bring it back to their country.”