Why Taiwan is a major sticking point between the US and China as Trump meets Xi
Like President Trump participates in the Beijing conference this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, no issue will be too serious to Xi than Taiwan.
Beijing called Taiwan the core of China’s core interests, reuniting, even with power, the center of Xi’s agenda.
In many ways, China and Taiwan are similar. They have the same history, language and culture. But over the past nearly 80 years, Taiwan has become many things that China is not. Taiwan, a sovereign island, it is a thriving democracy with a powerful capitalist economy. It is a place where people express their feelings freely without worry.
Fewer than 10% of Taiwanese favor reunification with China, according to the survey, and fears of it falling under Communist control are growing.
“Since the founding of democracy, we have enjoyed freedom of speech, a democratic, diverse society,” Taiwan’s Vice Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi told CBS News in an interview earlier this month. “We have moved past the dictatorial past. We see democracy as something we have achieved. The people of Taiwan value that very much. So we will not accept one country, two systems.”
Taiwan is also one of the biggest potential sticking points between the US and China, the only place where open war between the two superpowers is possible. China always he conducts military exercises surrounding Taiwan in an ongoing show of force.
For decades, American presidents have not focused on protecting a small Asian partner from its neighboring giant. But there is growing concern that President Trump could change that, which could have implications around the world.
Taiwan it is important in the American economy. It produces more than 90% of the world’s most advanced semiconductors, which are important for artificial intelligence and defense, making it a key player in the global supply chain.
“There is a lot at stake in this relationship,” said Jonathan Czin, a fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, on US-Taiwan relations. “And I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that.”
China has seen Taiwan as a renegade province since 1949, when nationalists lost the Chinese Civil War to the Communists and fled the country.
Today, Taiwan is an economic powerhouse with one of the highest GDP per capita in the world.
For decades, the US has refused to recognize the Chinese Communist Party’s claim to the island and has provided Taiwan with billions of dollars in arms every year, including 10 billion package announced last December.
But a new $14 billion arms package for Taiwan is awaiting Mr. Trump’s signature. And many in Taiwan fear that Xi will use trade deals to weaken US support or change the status quo. What made that fear is the recent speeches of Mr. Trump that he is willing to discuss with Xi about US arms sales to Taiwan.
“There is a real concern that he [Mr. Trump] he’s going to trade those arms sales for something else, you know, whether it’s to help Iran, or some kind of economic deal,” Czin said.
Chen Ming-chi told CBS News that he views the US as a “trustworthy ally,” and he does not care if it will abandon Taiwan.
“The US can trust us as much as we can trust the US,” Chen said. “Do we believe in the commitment of the US? Yes. They are our most reliable partner. Maybe our most reliable partner.”
