Taipei, Taiwan – Taiwan has religion within the help of america, a prime 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 help 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 completely assess the affect 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 way of 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 beneath 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, nevertheless, Trump has a launched a collection 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 trade, argued that Taipei ought to pay for its personal defence, and threatened prime Taiwanese chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Firm (TSMC) with a “one hundred pc tax” if it doesn’t increase 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 beneath 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 strategy, 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 consider 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 power if essential, though the ruling Communist Occasion 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 geared 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 those who Taiwan is an excellent accomplice, 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 Occasion 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’ ways
Chiu stated that Taiwan’s authorities continues to attempt to talk with Beijing by way of official channels, in addition to liaising by way of intermediaries from the enterprise world, nonprofit sector and academia.
Chiu, nevertheless, criticised China’s communications with the opposition Kuomintang (KMT), which he characterised as a part of Beijing’s divide and rule and “United Entrance” ways employed in opposition to Taiwan.
The time period “United Entrance” refers to each an official division of the Chinese language Communist Occasion and actions carried out by occasion 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 exhibiting most Taiwanese favour the established order of de facto independence.
“We’re always going through United Entrance ways, infiltration and division in Taiwanese society. They’re in every single place,” Chiu stated.
Taiwan’s Nationwide Safety Bureau prosecuted 64 individuals for espionage in 2024 – primarily energetic 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 workout routines and manoeuvres close to Taiwan over the previous 5 years.
China launched greater than 5,000 army flights within the route 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 route of Taiwan, with some getting 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 concerning 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 probably 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 occasion, and this nationalism poses a terrific risk to its neighbouring international locations,” Chiu stated.
“If you happen to ask me what considerations me probably the most, I might say that it’s the essence of the Xi regime,” he stated.
