US President Donald Trump’s seemingly throwaway “Taiwan is Taiwan” statement has been appearing in headlines all over the media.
Although it appears to have been made in passing, the comment nevertheless reveals something about Trump’s views and his understanding of Taiwan’s situation. In line with the Taiwan Relations Act, the US and Taiwan enjoy unofficial, but close economic, cultural and national defense ties. They lack official diplomatic relations, but maintain a partnership based on shared democratic values and strategic alignment. Excluding China, Taiwan maintains a level of diplomatic relations, official or otherwise, with many nations worldwide. It can be said that there is a shared understanding of Taiwan’s “national character.”
A nation’s character is not dissimilar to personal character. A person’s character can be understood as the combination of their intelligence, behavior, emotions, interpersonal relationships and self-control expressed in how they lead their life. Personal character is usually stable in the day-to-day and shifts tend to be predictable — it is inextricably linked with the self. It is a product of how a person sees themself and of how others perceive them.
National character can be understood similarly. After 70 years of peace, Taiwan has emerged as a unique sort of nation. It has all the trappings of a country — a people, land, taxes, military and a democratically elected president. What to call it continues to hang in the balance, despite most other countries, according to their understanding of the nation’s character, overwhelmingly referring to it as Taiwan.
To borrow the phrase, Trump is Trump. Trump understands what it means to navigate shifting world affairs. Taiwanese must properly manage and protect their country, and Taiwan itself must continue to maintain strong relationships with free and democratic nations worldwide.
Taiwan is Taiwan; Taiwan is not China.
Chen Chiao-chicy is a professor of psychiatry and an attending physician at Mackay Memorial Hospital’s Department of Psychiatry.
Translated by Gilda Knox Streader
President William Lai (賴清德) attended a dinner held by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) when representatives from the group visited Taiwan in October. In a speech at the event, Lai highlighted similarities in the geopolitical challenges faced by Israel and Taiwan, saying that the two countries “stand on the front line against authoritarianism.” Lai noted how Taiwan had “immediately condemned” the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas and had provided humanitarian aid. Lai was heavily criticized from some quarters for standing with AIPAC and Israel. On Nov. 4, the Taipei Times published an opinion article (“Speak out on the
More than a week after Hondurans voted, the country still does not know who will be its next president. The Honduran National Electoral Council has not declared a winner, and the transmission of results has experienced repeated malfunctions that interrupted updates for almost 24 hours at times. The delay has become the second-longest post-electoral silence since the election of former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernandez of the National Party in 2017, which was tainted by accusations of fraud. Once again, this has raised concerns among observers, civil society groups and the international community. The preliminary results remain close, but both
News about expanding security cooperation between Israel and Taiwan, including the visits of Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) in September and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) this month, as well as growing ties in areas such as missile defense and cybersecurity, should not be viewed as isolated events. The emphasis on missile defense, including Taiwan’s newly introduced T-Dome project, is simply the most visible sign of a deeper trend that has been taking shape quietly over the past two to three years. Taipei is seeking to expand security and defense cooperation with Israel, something officials
Eighty-seven percent of Taiwan’s energy supply this year came from burning fossil fuels, with more than 47 percent of that from gas-fired power generation. The figures attracted international attention since they were in October published in a Reuters report, which highlighted the fragility and structural challenges of Taiwan’s energy sector, accumulated through long-standing policy choices. The nation’s overreliance on natural gas is proving unstable and inadequate. The rising use of natural gas does not project an image of a Taiwan committed to a green energy transition; rather, it seems that Taiwan is attempting to patch up structural gaps in lieu of
RSS