A victory for presumptive Republican presidential candidate former US president Donald Trump would result in uncertainty in Asia, but not fundamentally change competition between the US and China, Japan’s top diplomat in Taiwan Kazuyuki Katayama said yesterday.
Katayama, chief representative of the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association’s Taipei Office, made the remark during a meeting of the Third Wednesday Club in Taipei, hours after Trump was asked in an interview with Bloomberg whether the US would defend Taiwan and he suggested that Taipei should pay for defense.
The club’s membership is limited to the top 100 firms in each sector of the Taiwanese economy.
Photo: CNA
The US’ increasingly hardline stance toward Beijing stems from a bipartisan consensus in Washington, not the opinions of one person or party, he said.
Expectations as to what would happen if Trump were to win differ, with some voicing concern that the real-estate mogul would take a transactional approach and try striking a bargain with China over Taiwan, while others believe he would continue US President Joe Biden’s policies of competing against Beijing, he said.
No matter whether Trump or Biden wins, the rivalry between the US and China is unlikely to change, Katayama said.
Under conditions in which the US and China are competing, Japan’s foreign affairs strategy would be based on its need to balance the economic and cultural benefits of doing business with Beijing and protecting national security, he said.
This requires Tokyo to have no illusions regarding China’s motives, take measures to avoid misunderstanding and possess sufficient capabilities to counter adventurism from Beijing, Katayama said.
Chinese National Association of Industry and Commerce chairman Thomas Wu (吳東亮) said on the sidelines of the event that a resurgence of protectionism under Trump might lead to inflation in Taiwan.
Taiwan cannot dismiss the possibility that if Trump were to return to the White House, he might launch a tariff war capable of driving up inflation and sending the global economy into a downturn, he said.
Acer Inc CEO Jason Chen (陳俊聖) said that his company would buy chips from whichever sources were at hand, be it Taiwan or the US.
The Taiwanese semiconductor industry owes its successful development to government policy, the sector’s resilience, the hard work of talented people and careful cost management, club chairman Lin Por-fong (林伯豐) said.
These conditions cannot be easily replicated in foreign countries, he said, adding that Taiwan needs to monitor the US presidential election’s impact on cross-strait relations.
Taishin Securities Investment Advisory Co vice president Huang Wen-ching (黃文清) said given that Trump’s chance to win the US election is pretty high now, many of his policies and stances could be implemented.
“There is some level of concern priced in, though I won’t say there’s a panic,” he told Bloomberg.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS