Taiwan’s leading edge in semiconductors and other high-tech sectors would play a very important role in forging stronger alliances with democratic countries, headed by incoming US president Donald Trump, to counter the authoritarian regimes of China and Russia, experts said at a forum in Taipei yesterday.
Once he is inaugurated, it would be “Trump 2.0,” World United Formosans for Independence chairman Richard Chen (陳南天) said.
Trump has appointed a new slate of people to take charge of strategies to “reshape the world order,” as current world economies, international relations and wars are very different from those of his first presidency in 2017 to 2021, Chen said.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Trump’s central tenets are “America First” and “Make America Great Again,” which won the support of disenchanted US voters who want industries and jobs to return home to drive new economic growth, Kuma Academy (黑熊學院) cofounder Ho Cheng-hui (何澄輝) said.
“During the campaign, Trump focused on the social instability and insecurity of Americans, brought on by the flood of illegal immigrants, and fentanyl and similar opioid drugs pouring into US. Trump wanted to ensure control by appointing a ‘border czar’ and threatening Canada and Mexico with higher tariffs so they would employ stricter enforcement at their borders with the US,” Ho said.
Trump and the Republicans also criticized Washington, saying it had not faced up to China’s rise as a world power. China has registered growth in its economy, industries, new technologies and military build-up over the past decades, and is challenging the US’ leadership on the global stage, he said.
“Trump has stated his position on these issues and pointed to China as the largest threat to US interests, especially in the Indo-Pacific region. Much of Trump’s new geopolitical strategies are aimed at countering China’s rise and its military expansionism,” Ho said.
Experts agreed that Trump and his new administration would forge a much stronger alliance of like-minded democratic countries, where Taiwan would have a pivotal role, given its central position in the “first island chain,” and its leading edge in semiconductors, artificial intelligence (AI) and computer electronics industries.
The US and Western nations would rely on Taiwan for new high-tech products, electric vehicles and smart military weapons, they said.
Taiwan National Security Institute research fellow Stanislaw Kwiatkowski said that the people Trump appointed to offices that handle foreign affairs and have a direct impact on Indo-Pacific strategies were mostly China hawks who have been friendly to Taiwan and have espoused a tougher stance on US dealings with China.
Trump has sought to end the fighting in the Middle East and to pivot US geopolitical strategy and foreign policy initiatives to the Indo-Pacific region to face China’s rising power, he said.
The US would also seek closer partnerships with Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and India to counter Chinese military expansion and conflict, Kwiatkowski added.
Taiwan would have an even closer relationship with the US and have an enhanced democratic alliance, since Trump, Washington officials and European partners have realized Taiwan’s importance in the supply chain and production of semiconductors, AI technologies and smart weapons, he said.
Countries would want to have a good relationship with Taiwan in the expected economic and trade war, and work together on deterring the so-called “axis of upheaval” — China, Russia, Iran and North Korea, he added.
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