Taiwan’s purchase of new advanced weapons systems from the US is in line with previous policy and mutually beneficial, an expert on US-China relations said yesterday.
Miles Yu (余茂春), director of the China Center at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, made the comments prior to a meeting of the Taiwan Association of University Professors focused on Taiwan-US relations ahead of US president-elect Donald Trump’s second term.
Each country’s national defense is based on its own needs, and the US hopes its allies can increase defense spending to deepen cooperation on security issues, Yu said.
The US is a big and powerful country in maintaining global security, but it cannot defend security for every single country, Yu added.
Regarding Trump’s comments that Taiwan needs to increase defense spending or pay a “protection fee,” Yu said it was not an unreasonable perspective, as the US does not have troops stationed in Taiwan, so such a fee would not resemble agreements with South Korea, Japan or NATO member states.
“I think it would be mutually beneficial,” Yu said about purchasing cutting-edge weapons from the US, adding that this is clearly in line with the US’ Taiwan Relations Act.
On the question of Trump’s broader attitude toward China, Yu said it depends on the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) behavior.
If it continues to be out of step and cause even greater damage to the world order, any democratic country would take a harsher stance on China, including the US, he said.
On whether Taiwan would receive an official visit from Trump’s secretary of state, Yu said that there is a legal basis for such a visit given that the Taiwan Travel Act, signed by Trump in his first term, allows for government officials at all levels in both countries to visit each other.
“I think Trump has not ruled anything out,” he said about potential countermeasures against China, given the country’s importance to US strategy and global peace and security.
Asked about the recent news that a Chinese-owned cargo vessel had damaged an undersea cable near Keelung Harbor, Yu said it is in line with other suspected cases of sabotage in northern Europe.
If it is confirmed to be a deliberate act, he said, it is not only an attack on Taiwan, but part of China’s global strategy.
