With Trump in China, Taiwan worries about becoming a ‘bargaining chip’
“There were rumors that when China and the U.S. talk about the North Korea issue they would use Taiwan as a bargaining chip,” mainland affairs minister Katherine Chang told a visiting group of U.S. journalists on Monday, adding that the Taiwanese government was “cautiously optimistic” this would not happen.
The fear is some kind of trade involving U.S. support for Taiwan and Chinese ties with North Korea could be under discussion.
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At first Trump defended his call and suggested that his administration’s position on the one-China policy would depend on whether he could “make a deal” with China on trade and other issues. Later, though, The U.S. president said he would not speak to the Taiwanese president again without checking with China first.
Now in Taiwan, many are worried about Trump’s plans. Analysts are paying close attention to his interactions with veteran foreign policy expert Henry Kissinger, with some suggesting that Kissinger is advocating that Trump make a major agreement on U.S.-China relations with Beijing.
Hsu, of the Taiwan Foundation, said that this was “just a rumor,” but added that there were real concerns that what lies behind Trump’s decision-making. “He is known for his transactional style of policymaking.”
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Other factors add further uncertainty to the relationship. Trump has made clear repeatedly that trade imbalances are key points of tension with foreign allies: The United States has logged an average trade deficit of $5.4 billion with Taiwan over the past five years.
One way to address that would be for Taiwan to boost its defense spending, which is considered low by U.S. officials. It currently stands at around 2 percent of gross domestic product and lags far behind that of China, its primary geopolitical rival. “Taiwan must do better,” Jim Moriarty, chairman of the American Institute of Taiwan, said of the country’s defense spending during an event last month at Brookings.
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“Many have debated here in Taiwan whether President Trump will trade Taiwan in exchange for China's position in North Korea,” Huang said. “But my hunch is that even if President Trump makes such an offer, President Xi would say no: ‘Taiwan is not in your hands. It’s in mine.’”
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/wi ... ea7fecf158
Seems about par for the course. The Generals let Trump stumble and bumble through Asia, while greasing the wheels of international commerce...just let it slide...We still haven't even gotten to meeting yes/no with Putin...