US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks that he was “not looking” for Taiwan to declare independence do not represent a change in Washington’s long-standing policy toward Taiwan, the president of The Jamestown Foundation said yesterday.
Speaking at a press event in Taipei held by lawmakers of the Democratic Progressive Party, Peter Mattis, who heads the Washington-based think tank, said the “most important thing” in Trump’s remarks near the end of his May 14-15 state visit to China was that he repeatedly stated US policy toward Taiwan had not changed.
“In the Fox News interview, he said, I think, three times a version of ‘US policy has not changed,’” Mattis said, referring to Trump’s interview that aired on May 15 after being taped near the end of his trip to Beijing, where he met Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平).
Photo: Liao Chen-huei, Taipei Times
In that interview, Trump said “nothing’s changed” when asked about US policy regarding Taiwan, but added that he was “not looking to have somebody go independent.”
Mattis said Trump’s remarks “didn’t really change anything” that the United States has said about independence or about how Taiwan chooses its future.
“The US policy has been consistent for a very long time that the people on both sides of the Strait have a role in choosing that future, and that that future should be peaceful and it should be free of coercion -- Trump hasn’t changed that,” he said.
Mattis also noted that Trump had not described Taiwan as “a bargaining chip,” nor had he suggested that Washington was prepared to make a deal with Beijing over Taiwan.
“There is no deal that can be made over Taiwan that doesn’t make the US look weak,” he said, adding that Trump is “incredibly sensitive” to the perception that he is presiding over a declining US.
In the Fox News interview, however, Trump did say that a pending US$14 billion arms package of missiles, anti- drone equipment and other weapons for Taiwan was a “very good negotiating chip for us ... It’s a lot of weapons.”
That and another comment that the arms sale “depends on China” led to speculation that the arms sale could be delayed.
Possible arms sale pause?
On May 21, US Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao said at a Senate hearing that Washington was “doing a pause” on some foreign military sales to Taiwan to ensure it had sufficient munitions for Epic Fury, the U.S. military operation in Iran.
Mattis dismissed suggestions that any potential pause could be linked to US military operations in Iran.
“There’s no way in which FMS that has been decided or notified could be associated with operational inventories or anything else that has taken place” in relation to operations in Iran, he said, using the acronym for Foreign Military Sales.
FMS is the US government’s security assistance program for selling defense articles and services to foreign countries.
Mattis said such comments likely reflected someone “misspeaking” or “not necessarily understanding” the technical details of how US arms sales work, including the packaging and timing of deliveries.
“I think these are separate issues and should be treated that way,” he said.
Taiwan’s Presidential Office said the day after Cao’s comment that Taipei had not received any formal notification from Washington about any possible adjustment to US arms sales to Taiwan.
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