U.S. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump stated that Taiwan should pay if it wants American protection in an interview published by Bloomberg Businessweek this Tuesday. Taiwan Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) publicly responded to the comments, underlining strong Taiwan-U.S. relations and common goals.
In the interview, Trump stated that he believes he knows the Taiwanese people well, and that he respects them greatly, but also mentioned that Taiwan has taken away around 100% of the U.S. chip business. He said Taiwan should pay the U.S. for defense as the nation is similar to an insurance company, and Taiwan purportedly doesn’t provide anything in return.
Cho maintains that the nations share good relations despite the lack of formal ties, and states that Taiwan is willing to bear more responsibility to bolster defenses in the Taiwan Strait and Indo-Pacific.
In response to questions about how the government will respond if Trump is elected as the next U.S. president and asks Taiwan to move chip research and development to the U.S., Cho said he has confidence that the industry remaining in Taiwan is what’s best for the nation. He said he respects the decision of the American people, and that the government will further relations with the U.S. regardless of which party takes office.