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 Washington-based Jamestown Foundation said yesterday.
The “most important thing” in Trump’s remarks near the end of his May 13 to 15 state visit to China was that he repeatedly stated US policy toward Taiwan had not changed, foundation president Peter Mattis told a media event in Taipei held by Democratic Progressive Party lawmakers.
“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.”
Trump’s remarks “didn’t really change anything” that the US has said about independence or about how Taiwan chooses its future, Mattis said.
“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.
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, Mattis said.
“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.
However, Trump did say in the Fox News interview 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.
On Thursday last week, Acting US Secretary of the Navy Hung Cao said at a US 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 US 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.
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, Mattis said.
“I think these are separate issues and should be treated that way,” he said.
The day after Cao’s comment, the Presidential Office said that Taipei had not received any formal notification from Washington about any possible adjustment to US arms sales to Taiwan.
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