Taiwanese soldiers pose with a Taiwanese flag near a Sky Sword II surface-to-air missile launcher and a military UAV during an annual military exercise ahead of Lunar New Year in Taichung, Taiwan, Jan. 27. Reuters-Yonhap

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump, in his return to the White House, has demonstrated greater ambivalence toward Taiwan, an approach that's raising questions ahead of this week’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping about whether the U.S. leader could be open to dialing back support for the island democracy that Beijing views as its breakaway province.

Trump in December authorized an $11 billion arms package for Taiwan — the largest weapons sale ever to the island — but has not yet moved forward with delivery and even acknowledged that he's discussed the sale with Xi. He's groused that Taiwan “stole” America’s semiconductor business and called on Taiwan to pay the U.S. for protection.

All the while, Trump has, with the threat of hefty tariffs, prodded Taipei to agree to massive investments in U.S. semiconductor manufacturing and to purchase billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. liquefied natural gas and crude oil.

Trump's rhetoric is fueling speculation in Beijing, Taipei and Washington about America’s commitment to help the island defend itself and whether the Republican president could be persuaded to cede ground on the long-standing U.S. posture toward the island.

Taiwan’s backers are concerned that Taipei will be “on the menu” when Trump and Xi sit down for talks, said retired U.S. Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery.

“I do worry that we have a transactional president and a transactional opportunity could arise, and then we would have a challenge,” said Montgomery, now with the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a Washington think tank that supports robust U.S. backing of Taiwan.

Rubio says US policy is unchanged

The Chinese have signaled they intend to make Taiwan a central part of the talks between Xi and Trump this week. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi raised Taiwan during a call with Secretary of State Marco Rubio to prepare for the trip, and urged the United States to “make the right choices” about its policies toward the island in order to safeguard “stability” between the two nations, according to a statement by the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

But Rubio said U.S. policy has not changed. “We don’t want to see any forced or compelled change in the situation,” he told reporters in Rome on Friday, saying it “would be destabilizing to the world.” He noted that Taiwan would not be “a feature of our trip, but it’ll certainly be an item that’s discussed.”

Source: Korea Times News