A former US national security advisor yesterday confirmed delivering President William Lai's (賴清德) congratulatory letter to US president-elect Donald Trump, calling it a "great start" for relations between the two sides.
Robert O'Brien, who served as Trump's national security advisor from 2019 to 2021, said that he delivered the letter to Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence as reported by CNN last month, and that the US president-elect was reportedly "very pleased."
O'Brien made the remarks during an event hosted by the Washington-based think tank Global Taiwan Institute.
Photo: CNA
He said that Lai's letter marked one of the first instances of communication following Trump's election victory.
"I think it was a great start," he said, despite no direct phone call having taken place.
O'Brien was referring to when former president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) personally called Trump in December 2016 to congratulate him on his first presidential victory.
The 10-minute call marked the first direct communication between a Taiwanese leader and a US president-elect since the diplomatic ties between Taipei and Washington were cut off in 1979.
During the event, O'Brien highlighted Trump's appointment of several pro-Taiwan officials in his incoming administration, including China hawks Marco Rubio as secretary of state nominee, Mike Waltz as national security advisor, and Alex Wong, who has family connections with Taiwan, as deputy national security advisor.
He noted Jamieson Greer, a member of the institute's US-Taiwan relationship team, has also been designated as US trade representative, adding that "personnel is policy."
O'Brien praised Taiwan's democracy for debunking China's narrative that "Chinese people can't govern themselves," which he said has frustrated and angered Beijing.
Speaking about Trump's approach to Taiwan in his term, O'Brien described the former president as a "dealmaker" who does not just see Taiwan through a security lens.
"[Trump] also looks at Taiwan and sees rich people, and he sees Taiwan as a very rich country," he said, referring to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co's factories in Arizona as one example.
"I don't think [Trump] will be willing to underwrite Taiwan's defense anymore," O'Brien said. "So, I can see the Taiwanese coming in ... with big purchases of US weapon systems to balance the trade deficit."
Last month, Taiwan was named for the sixth consecutive time on the US Department of the Treasury's twice-yearly currency monitoring list, which also includes China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and Germany.
Together, the seven countries accounted for about 78 percent of US foreign trade in goods and services over the four quarters ending in June, according to the US treasury.
Data from the Office of Trade Negotiations indicated that the US recorded a trade deficit of US$61.87 billion with Taiwan in the first 10 months of this year.
"The Chinese are gonna make deals with Donald Trump, and the Taiwanese will [have to] prepare to make deals," O'Brien said.
HORROR STORIES: One victim recounted not realizing they had been stabbed and seeing people bleeding, while another recalled breaking down in tears after fleeing A man on Friday died after he tried to fight the knife-wielding suspect who went on a stabbing spree near two of Taipei’s busiest metro stations, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said. The 57-year-old man, identified by his family name, Yu (余), encountered the suspect at Exit M7 of Taipei Main Station and immediately tried to stop him, but was fatally wounded and later died, Chiang said, calling the incident “heartbreaking.” Yu’s family would receive at least NT$5 million (US$158,584) in compensation through the Taipei Rapid Transit Corp’s (TRTC) insurance coverage, he said after convening an emergency security response meeting yesterday morning. National
Taiwan has overtaken South Korea this year in per capita income for the first time in 23 years, IMF data showed. Per capita income is a nation’s GDP divided by the total population, used to compare average wealth levels across countries. Taiwan also beat Japan this year on per capita income, after surpassing it for the first time last year, US magazine Newsweek reported yesterday. Across Asia, Taiwan ranked fourth for per capita income at US$37,827 this year due to sustained economic growth, the report said. In the top three spots were Singapore, Macau and Hong Kong, it said. South
PLANNED: The suspect visited the crime scene before the killings, seeking information on how to access the roof, and had extensively researched a 2014 stabbing incident The suspect in a stabbing attack that killed three people and injured 11 in Taipei on Friday had planned the assault and set fires at other locations earlier in the day, law enforcement officials said yesterday. National Police Agency (NPA) Director-General Chang Jung-hsin (張榮興) said the suspect, a 27-year-old man named Chang Wen (張文), began the attacks at 3:40pm, first setting off smoke bombs on a road, damaging cars and motorbikes. Earlier, Chang Wen set fire to a rental room where he was staying on Gongyuan Road in Zhongzheng District (中正), Chang Jung-hsin said. The suspect later threw smoke grenades near two exits
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency yesterday launched a gift box to market honey “certified by a Formosan black bear” in appreciation of a beekeeper’s amicable interaction with a honey-thieving bear. Beekeeper Chih Ming-chen (池明鎮) in January inspected his bee farm in Hualien County’s Jhuosi Township (卓溪) and found that more than 20 beehives had been destroyed and many hives were eaten, with bear droppings and paw prints near the destroyed hives, the agency said. Chih returned to the farm to move the remaining beehives away that evening when he encountered a Formosan black bear only 20m away, the agency said. The bear
RSS