Vice Premier Cheng Li-chun (鄭麗君) vowed to boost Taiwan’s defense capabilities, including through developing its own military drones, as the administration of US President Donald Trump weakens support for Ukraine, casting doubt over Washington’s commitment to Taipei.
“Taiwan has been paying very close attention to the developments in Ukraine,” Cheng told Bloomberg TV, in response to a question on whether the government is worried about Trump’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine war.
“For Taiwan, the most important thing now is how we can take responsibility in the Indo-Pacific region,” Cheng said, calling bolstering such capabilities the basis for peace.
Photo: An Rong Xu, Bloomberg
“We’re paying close attention to the Trump administration’s policies,” she added when asked about the outlook for Taiwan’s relationship with the US.
Trump has pressured Ukraine to strike a deal with Russia, calling into question whether the US is a still reliable partner for Taiwan.
After Russia mounted its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Taiwan immediately joined declared solidarity with Ukraine.
Shortly after, then US-president Joe Biden broke with tradition to say that the US would defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion.
Trump this week told reporters that he would never say whether the US would protect Taiwan.
While Cheng would not be drawn on Trumps’ comments, she said that the Trump administration had in statements published since the Republican leader’s inauguration “repeatedly emphasized the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait.”
“This is a consensus shared by most democratic countries,” Cheng said, without directly answering whether Taiwan can still rely on Washington for security.
Cheng, who leads a government task force on Taiwan-US ties, said that under President William Lai (賴清德), Taiwan has already pledged to increase its defense budget to 3 percent of GDP, without specifying a timeframe, in a move aimed at showing Washington that it is committed to defending itself from China.
Taiwan has also indicated its willingness to do more to stay on Trump’s good side, saying it could buy more US energy and agricultural products, as well as weapons, to cut into its trade surplus with the US.
Drones are a big part of Taiwan’s self-defense strategy, after it has seen the central role uncrewed devices have played in the fighting in Ukraine. That is part of the reason Taipei is developing a platform to allow civilian-use drones to be transformed for defense purposes, linking them to key communications systems and arming them with the right weapons in the event of a conflict.
“When it comes to drones, we have seen from Ukraine’s experience that they can serve as a force multiplier, offering strategic and tactical advantages in both gray zone conflicts and military engagements,” Cheng said.
While Chinese drones now hold more than 70 percent of global market share, Cheng said she hoped the nation can leverage its manufacturing capability and high-tech advantages to rival that supply chain.
“If a drone is made in a democratic country, we can ensure its cybersecurity,” she added.
Taiwan, which ran a record trade surplus with the US last year, faces other difficulties from Trump’s return to office.
He has threatened hitting goods, including semiconductors, with tariffs of about 25 percent, which would pose a major risk to Taiwan’s economy, which has benefited from an artificial intelligence boom creating huge demand for its chips and other high-tech products.
Collaboration with the US could help democratic countries maintain their lead in the high-tech industry, Cheng said.
“We want to show that the future Taiwan-US cooperation on high tech industry is mutually beneficial,” she added.
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