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Ahead of last year’s US Presidential elections, Donald Trump was asked if he would defend China against Taiwan, he responded that Taiwan should pay the US for protection from China. Taiwan is a self-governing island, claimed by Beijing and whilst Taiwan is not formally recognised by the US, they do remain the island’s most important security partner. Taiwan manufactures over ninety percent of the world’s most advanced semiconductor chips, which makes some American industries heavily dependent on trade links with the island.
But official US policy towards Taiwan is one of ‘strategic ambiguity’. So when the US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth recently warned of China posing an ‘imminent’ threat to Taiwan, whilst at the same time urging Asian countries to boost defence spending and work with the US to deter war, it raised the issue of how far America would be prepared to go to defend Taiwan. China in response accused the US of being the ‘biggest troublemaker’ for regional peace.
The US has only just agreed a truce on trade tariffs with China and President Trump’s immediate attention has shifted onto issues in the Middle East, so if Pete Hegseth’s warning is valid, how far up the list is Taiwan in terms of Trump’s foreign policy priorities. This week on the Inquiry we’re asking ‘Does Trump care about Taiwan?’
Contributors:
Dr Chun-yi Lee, Associate Professor, School of Politics and International Relations, Director of Taiwan Research Hub, University of Nottingham, UK
Christopher S. Chivvis, Senior Fellow and Director, American Statecraft Program, The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC, USA
Patricia Kim, Scholar on China, The Brookings Institution, Washington DC, USA
Raymond Kuo, Inaugural Director, Taiwan Policy Initiative, The Rand Corporation, California, USA

Presenter: Tanya Beckett
Producer: Jill Collins
Researcher: Maeve Schaffer
Editor: Tara McDermott
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards
Production Co-ordinator: Tammy Snow
Image Credit: Taiwanese flags wave at the park decorated by Chang Lao-wang, ahead of Taiwan National Day in Taoyuan, Taiwan, October 5, 2022. REUTERS/Ann Wang