A former US national security advisor on Thursday said he expects Taiwan to make large arms procurements during US president-elect Donald Trump’s second presidency to balance the latter’s trade deficit.
Robert O’Brien, who served under Trump from 2019 to 2021, made the remarks during an event hosted by the Washington-based think tank Global Taiwan Institute (GTI).
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.
Photo: CNA
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 Taiwan and sees rich people, and he sees Taiwan as a very rich country,” he said, referring to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) 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 included China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and Germany.
Together, the seven countries accounted for about 78 percent of the US’ foreign trade in goods and services over the four quarters ending in June this year, the US Treasury said.
Data from the Office of Trade Negotiations showed 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.
O’Brien also highlighted Trump’s nomination of several pro-Taiwan officials in his incoming administration, including China hawks Marco Rubio as secretary of state, Mike Waltz as national security advisor and Alex Wong (黃之瀚), who has family connections with Taiwan, as deputy national security advisor.
Jamieson Greer, a member of the Global Taiwan Institute’s US-Taiwan relationship team, has also been designated as US trade representative, he said, adding that “personnel is policy.”
O’Brien confirmed delivering President William Lai’s (賴清德) congratulatory 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 said 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.
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