For years, the US government has urged China to show “restraint” in pushing its claims regarding Taiwan and to drop military threats to bring the nation under its control.
Now — some Chinese commentators say — the power of that long-held US message has been undermined by the threats by US president-elect Donald Trump to take control of Greenland and the Panama Canal, by force if necessary. Trump is to take office on Monday next week.
The implications of Trump’s comments for US policy on Taiwan have been widely discussed on Chinese social media platforms in the past few days and by foreign-policy analysts.
Photo: Reuters
Some say Trump’s break with the norms of US diplomacy could create an opening for China.
One Chinese expert said that Trump’s first term in office signaled that he views foreign policy as transactional in nature and suggested he might be amenable to a deal regarding Taiwan.
Zhao Minghao (趙明昊), a professor at the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said that Trump’s threats to take Greenland, the Panama Canal and even Canada needed to be taken seriously.
“Besides that, we need to think about Trump’s transactionalism, which he is serious about as well. Many in China still perceive Trump as a dealmaker, even on very tough issues like the Taiwan question,” Zhao said.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it was “absurd” to try and link Greenland’s status to Taiwan.
“The Taiwan issue is an internal Chinese matter, and how to resolve it is something for the Chinese people,” it said in a statement.
Asked whether Trump’s comments could provide impetus to China creating trouble over Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Republic of China is a “sovereign and independent country.”
“Any distortion of Taiwan’s sovereign status will not change the status quo in the Taiwan Strait,” it said in a statement.
The Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US is bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
During his first term in office, Trump offered strong support to Taiwan, including regularizing arms sales.
However, during his presidential campaign last year, he said that Taiwan should pay the US to be defended.
Taiwan has repeatedly said it is committed to increasing its defense spending.
The situation in the Taiwan Strait is vastly different to the Greenland, Canada or Panama Canal situations. In China’s eyes, Taiwan is already legally Chinese territory whose destiny is to be “returned to the motherland.”
Nevertheless, Trump’s comments on Greenland have created a stir on Chinese social media, which is subject to censorship.
“If Greenland is annexed by the United States, China must take Taiwan,” Wang Jiangyu (王江雨), a professor of law at City University of Hong Kong, wrote on Sina Weibo.
One commentator on a blog run by Chinese search engine Baidu said that if Trump does move on Greenland, China should “seize the opportunity to take back Taiwan.”
“Trump seems to be serious, so we too should see what we could get from this,” wrote the commentator, using the handle “Hongtu Shumeng.”
Chen Fei (陳菲), an associate professor at Central China Normal University’s School of Politics and International Studies, wrote on Chinese news portal NetEase that just like Greenland for Trump, Taiwan was a core security interest for China.
However, the two issues are not the same as what Trump is doing is directly threatening another country’s sovereignty, Chen said.
“Taiwan is China’s intrinsic territory and a pure internal Chinese matter,” he wrote. “It has nothing to do with another country’s sovereignty.”
However, Bonnie Glaser, a Taiwan expert at the Washington-based German Marshall Fund of the US, said that for Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) there were other factors carrying greater weight, especially his assessment of the country’s military capabilities and the likely costs China would incur if it used force against Taiwan.
“I doubt that Beijing will draw parallels between Greenland and Taiwan,” Glaser said. “The Chinese believe that Taiwan is already and always has been part of China — they won’t pay money for it and no government in Taiwan will agree to be bought.”
Drew Thompson, a senior fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore and former US Department of Defense official, also said it was “quite preposterous” to think Trump’s Greenland comments could embolden China’s claims.
However, “it does strike me that should President Trump refuse to ... rule out the use of military force to achieve and protect US interests, I would think that type of statement and determination would serve to further deter Beijing to take any action that would prompt the US to take military action to protect Taiwan,” Thompson said.
“That’s a pretty mighty deterrent for China,” he added.
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake struck eastern Taiwan's Hualien County at 2:23pm today, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). The epicenter of the temblor was 5.4 kilometers northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 34.9 km, according to the CWA. The earthquake's intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a temblor, was the highest in Hualien County, where it measured 2 on Taiwan's 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 1 in Yilan county, Taichung, Nantou County, Changhua County and Yunlin County, the CWA said. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
‘WORSE THAN COMMUNISTS’: President William Lai has cracked down on his political enemies and has attempted to exterminate all opposition forces, the chairman said The legislature would motion for a presidential recall after May 20, Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday at a protest themed “against green communists and dictatorship” in Taipei. Taiwan is supposed to be a peaceful homeland where people are united, but President William Lai (賴清德) has been polarizing and tearing apart society since his inauguration, Chu said. Lai must show his commitment to his job, otherwise a referendum could be initiated to recall him, he said. Democracy means the rule of the people, not the rule of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), but Lai has failed to fulfill his