The US would not abandon its commitment to Taiwan, and would make Taiwan safer, stronger and more prosperous, American Institute in Taiwan Director Raymond Greene said.
“The US’ commitment to Taiwan has been consistent over many administrations and over many years, and we will not abandon our commitment to Taiwan, including our opposition to any attempt to use force or coercion to change Taiwan’s status,” he said in an exclusive interview with the Liberty Times (the sister newspaper of the Taipei Times) on Friday last week, which was published in the Chinese-language newspaper yesterday.
The US would double down on its efforts to support Taiwan’s self-defense capabilities and make the nation safer, he said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
“We’re going to increase our collaboration in areas like developing new technologies in fields like AI [artificial intelligence] and quantum [computing], as well as building a democratic supply chain,” Greene said, adding that it would be a “non-Chinese supply chain” in critical areas such as drones and robotics.
Such US-Taiwan collaborations in advanced technologies are expected to broaden bilateral relations in trade and economics, Greene said.
US President Donald Trump has been engaging in a technolgy and trade war with China, as well as imposing tariffs on imports and urging a truce in the Russia-Ukraine war since he took office more than a month ago, to “make America great again.”
Asked whether the US’ Taiwan policy would change under the Trump administration in the next four years, Green said that the US would continue to expand two-way investment and trade relationships with Taiwan to make both nations more prosperous.
Although the US and Taiwan are the two leading players in the semiconductor sector, they still have many complementary products and technologies in other areas, he said.
For example, Taiwan’s manufacturing sector can help reindustrialize the US, while the US, the world’s largest energy exporter, can offer Taiwan liquefied natural gas, and renewable or other energy, he said.
Asked about growing skepticism about the US, Greene reiterated that the US’ Taiwan policy has been consistently based on the Taiwan Relations Act over many administrations, including the former Trump administration.
“We see Taiwan as a partner of choice in developing critical technologies needed to win the competition of the 21st century, whether it’s in advanced technologies or the manufacturing sector,” he said.
One of Trump’s priorities is to maintain global peace, including preventing conflicts in the Taiwan Strait, as well as ending the Russia-Ukraine war and enhancing deterrence in the Indo-Pacific region, Greene said.
To prevent cross-strait conflict, the US and Taiwan must build up their deterrence capabilities, including Taiwan’s defense reforms and asymmetric capabilities, he said.
More allies and partners such as the Philippines, South Korea and Japan should also be engaged in that cooperation to ensure deterrence capabilities, he added.
Trump and US undersecretary of defense for policy nominee Elbridge Colby have both said Taiwan should increase its defense budget to 10 percent of GDP.
The Executive Yuan had earmarked NT$647 billion (US$19.65 billion) for defense spending this year, or about 2.45 percent of GDP, some of which was later cut or frozen by the Legislative Yuan.
“It’s very much welcomed that President [William] Lai (賴清德) has announced he intends to increase Taiwan’s defense spending beyond 3 percent of GDP. We also very much appreciate his leadership on issues like whole-of-society resilience, because all of these things are an important step toward ensuring deterrence,” Greene said.
Partisan differences in politics are common not only in Taiwan, but also in the US, he said.
Republicans and Democrats fight over many things in the US Congress, but they have a very strong consensus on certain issues, he said.
“One of those issues is the importance of Taiwan’s security, and that’s why over the past two years, the US Congress ... approved funding of over US$2 billion to provide support for Taiwan’s security capabilities,” Greene said.
“Just as there is a bipartisan consensus in the US Congress, I’m very optimistic and very confident that whether it’s blue [Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT)], green [Democratic Progressive Party] or white [Taiwan People’s Party], everybody in Taiwan politics would understand the importance of Taiwan’s security and support investments in Taiwan’s defense, whether it’s traditional military spending or societal resilience,” he said.
Asked about delayed US arms sales to Taiwan, Greene said the tight production in the US defense industry has affected its ability to deliver weapons to Taiwan, mainly due to the Russia-Ukraine war and tensions in the Middle East.
“In the Indo-Pacific, because of the current China threat, many countries are increasing their own defense spending and requesting more US military equipment,” he said.
“Taiwan is our top priority, and we’ve been working very hard to accelerate delivery, especially the asymmetric systems that I think will have the most immediate impact on Taiwan’s defense,” he added.
As Taiwan has a very developed defense industrial base and many strong manufacturers that have mature technologies and rich experience, future collaboration is possible in drones and new satellite systems, Greene said.
Asked about the US’ attitude toward Taiwan’s development of nuclear energy, Greene said that many US companies are willing to expand operations in Taiwan, such as building AI data centers, which would require lots of energy.
While Taiwan highly relies on imports, the US can be a reliable source of energy such as renewables and nuclear energy, he said.
There is a renaissance of using nuclear power around the world, especially in the US and Japan, as it enables these nations to support new technologies with stable base loads, Greene said.
“So we’ve been actively talking to companies here and government agencies about if there is this option for the US to help Taiwan in this direction. I think this is an exciting area for cooperation going forward,” he said.
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