Opinion | Trump's Ukrainian betrayal shows Taiwan no longer rely on the United States
In online comments and daily conversations, the Taiwanese people are increasingly skeptical about the US’s commitment to Taiwan and ask: Is the US no longer willing to support friendly countries like Ukraine to defend its freedom? In early March, an informal poll by Taiwanese college students was reported on an online platform, and survey respondents remain willing to defend Taiwan to prevent Taiwan from Chinese attacks or prefer to surrender, given the latest developments involving Ukraine. Most choose to surrender.
Taiwan’s President Lai Ching-te seems to have no meaning to these emotions. He did not contact all aspects of Taiwan to have an urgent national discussion on the direction we should take, but rather a revival of fear, confrontation and fierce Cold War rhetoric.
On March 13, Mr. Lai formally labeled China as a “foreign hostile force” citing Chinese spies, subversion and military threats, and promised a more stringent scrutiny of business, culture and other ties to China. He also announced plans to restore the military court system to prosecute Taiwan’s active-duty personnel suspected of national security crimes, which abolished human rights issues in 2013. Taiwan’s main opposition party Kuomintang accused Mr. Lai of pushing Taiwan into war, and China predictably warned that he was “playing with fire.”
The problem with Mr. Lai's approach is that Taiwan can no longer receive support from the United States. This is not what we only realize now, because Mr. Trump, in addition to betraying Ukraine, has announced his commitment to defending Taiwan and even accused us of stealing semiconductor business from the United States.
We have long been painfully aware that, like any country, the United States puts its own interests first. People of all ages in Taiwan know what happened on December 16, 1978, when our then President Tsai was awakened at 2 a.m. and informed the United States that it would have diplomatic ties with Taiwan to recognize the People's Republic of China, abandoned us, abandoned us – Cold War – A Cold War Ellie – to deepen diplomatic isolation. Mr. Trump's original approach is just a difference in style, not a difference in substance.
