Taiwan Calls for Continued Self-Reliance After Trump Comment

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Aug 21, 2025 - 10:03 Updated: Aug 21, 2025 - 09:50
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Taiwan Calls for Continued Self-Reliance After Trump Comment
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Taiwan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the island must rely on itself for security after U.S. President Donald Trump said Chinese leader Xi Jinping vowed not to invade during his presidency.

Trump made the remarks in a Fox News interview with anchor Bret Baier while aboard Air Force One en route to Alaska on Saturday. According to Trump, Xi told him, “I will never do it as long as you’re president.”

When asked about Trump’s remarks, ministry spokesperson Hsiao Kuang-wei told reporters on Aug. 19 that the Taiwanese government closely monitored interactions between senior U.S. and Chinese officials.

“Taiwan’s security must be achieved through its own efforts, so our country has been dedicating itself to raising its self-defence capabilities and resilience. Our country will keep working hard to do this,” he said.

China’s communist regime views self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has not ruled out taking it by force.

China’s foreign ministry said on Aug. 18 that Taiwan was an internal matter that was for the Chinese people to resolve.

Despite a lack of formal diplomatic ties with Taiwan, the United States maintains a robust relationship with Taipei based on the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), which authorizes Washington to provide the island with military equipment for its self-defense.

Arms transfers continue under this legal framework. In February last year, the Pentagon’s Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress of a proposed $75 million sale of secure military communications and control technology to the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office (TECRO), citing Public Law 96-8, which refers to the TRA.

Beyond statutory commitments, successive U.S. administrations have emphasized a long-standing policy of strategic ambiguity toward Taiwan’s defense.

The U.S. State Department states that Washington’s approach is guided by the U.S. “one China” policy, which is distinct from the Chinese regime’s one-China policy, the Three Joint Communiqués with Beijing, and the Six Assurances given to Taipei in 1982.
Under this legal framework, the United States recognises the People’s Republic of China as the sole legal government in China but maintains unofficial relations with Taiwan through the American Institute.
Official statements from the White House and the State Department repeatedly affirm that Washington opposes any unilateral change to the status quo.
In a May 31 speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said that it is “public that Xi has ordered his military to be capable of invading Taiwan by 2027.”

“Any attempt by Communist China to conquer Taiwan by force would result in devastating consequences for the Indo-Pacific and the world,” Hegseth said. “There’s no reason to sugarcoat it. The threat China poses is real.”

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