President Trump said he regarded a big U.S. arms deal with Taiwan as an excellent “bargaining chip” with China. That’s concerning enough. It seems to call into question America’s commitment to defending a democratic, technologically sophisticated ally.
But his remarks aboard Air Force One seemed to go one step further. “I don’t think we want to be involved in a war 9,500 miles away,” he said, obviously referring to Taiwan.
I started covering the U.S.-China-Taiwan dynamic as a correspondent for UPI in Beijing in 1981. American policy of “strategic ambiguity” has been rock steady for decades. President Biden made it explicit–the U.S. would defend Taiwan.
But Trump’s remarks suggest he does not share that view, and that alone could prove destabilizing. The Chinese Communists, who have completely wrecked Hong Kong, may calculate that there is an opening for them to increase their military pressure on Taiwan.
