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© Thomson Reuters 2024.Senior U.S. diplomat arrives in Taiwan as officials downplay Trump comments
By Ben Blanchard and Yimou Lee TAIPEI©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
41 Comments
lincolnman
Let's see....
Trump has a long-term business relationship with China and the CCP making all of his Trump Collection clothing line in Chinese sweatshop factories...also had a secret Chinese bank account...and we can't forget Ivanka's 18 Chinese-granted trademarks...
And Elon Musk builds Teslas in China that he then sells in North America...
Yep, easy to see why Trump is throwing Taiwan under the Chinese-made bus...
Joe
Not only is he a simplistic ignorant moron, he WILL sell Taiwan down the river for a pack of cigarettes because he is in the thrall (and possibly compromised by) fascist thugs.
konjo4u
Soldiers paid dues many years before. We honor them now.
isabelle
Surprise, surprise - Trump has no idea what he's talking about. Sadly, neither he nor his supporters care.
The US has provided no commitment to defend Taiwan, and there's no formal treaty, so no it shouldn't.
No, it didn't. It provided an outsourcing model that was eagerly taken up by American (and other) companies, and actually helped -- and continues to help -- the US chip industry industry develop, by making what the US needs.
...
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2024/07/22/2003821138
Since then, the Taiwan-US technology relationship has been one of symbiosis and codependence. In the 1990s, when fledgling US chip designers could not find a local factory to make their products, TSMC and UMC were on hand to help. Qualcomm Inc, Nvidia Corp and Xilinx Inc, giants of the US semiconductor industry, would not exist today if not for the Taiwanese.
In the past 20 years, as US firms dropped the ball on technological advancement and capacity expansion, Taiwanese companies have put up the money to research and develop new processes and bet more than US$250 billion on the factories needed to churn out US-designed chips.
...
Trump would be a disaster for the US, Asia, and everywhere else.
Blacklabel
Trump again.
everything, anything, Trump.
it really sounds like the entire world revolves around what he says. Even on a podcast, while not in office.
he must be really significant. Is it expected he will attain time type of world leader position soon?
Blacklabel
it’s been so long since you could complain about this! Can’t imagine how happy you must feel to have gotten a chance to repeat it all, again.
the neckties! He’s a multi billionaire cause of 20 year ago neckties from Macy’s!
what’s that website you used to post every day? We all miss that.
geronimo2006
The message is very clear. Taiwan and Ukraine are toast if Trump gets in.
finally rich
He will also start WW3 right? Good lord, guy was president just a few years ago, you can do better.
Daniel Neagari
...well, Trump was for four years the president of the USA... and although he is "just a candidate" at the moment, those two fact give him a lot of weight (not talking about his ass) on the World stage.
He may win the presidency again, so yes... everyone has to be following what he says, what he does and what his policies are going to be... duh!
Seems like you are a bit weak on the politico - social area it seems.
finally rich
I'm not a fan of Biden or Kamala but I don't wake up thinking about them, neither follow or comment about what I think about them while eating my breakfast. Yep, Trump exposed all these kind of people and they just cant handle it!
Daniel Neagari
I don't know about starting WW3... but he is surely making allies nervous while those who threat the US allies bit excited.
At least, Donnie should be more diplomatic regarding his opinions... something that apparenlty he didn't learn during his presidency....
JJE
Important to observe Taiwan province lacks UN recognition of any type, and, as such, Beijing's territorial claims there have quite solid foundation.
Certain quarters don't like to admit this provable fact, but rank denial doesn't change the reality.
Daniel Neagari
that is becasue, a couple of members of the Permanent Security Council of the UN (the council is the most powerful inside the UN) is adamantly against recognizing Taiwan as a country....
Zaphod
geronimo2006
Reality check: During the previous Trump term there were no new foreign wars and existing ones were being phased out. Trump was removed, sensible policies were revoked, and look at the mess that got you into. All forgotten?
isabelle
Important to observe, since you try this line every time, that this is purely due to the pressure/threat of aggression from China.
FYI, the European Parliament has recently confirmed that Resolution 2758 has nothing to do with Taiwan.
https://en.mofa.gov.tw/News_Content.aspx?n=1329&sms=272&s=118344
They have zero foundation.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Good to see the US supporting the true democracy that is Taiwan.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Important to observe that Taiwan has more recognition than russia's disgraces.
Certain quarters don't like to admit this provable fact, but rank denial doesn't change the reality.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Oh look, you got a Blackrock mention in. What does that increase your pay by?
deanzaZZR
Simple fact check JT. That is the official flag of the Republic of China.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Yup, part of the evil MIC. I suggest some Noam Chomsky reading next.
Fos
Wake up and smell the coffee if you haven't already. The rapacity of the US administration and the pretense that drive these interests worldwide has stopped with new world order. Time to go back to where you come from, there is no space in Asia for the covetousness and greed you represent.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Xi still taking Joe Biden's phone calls.
Savio
Struggling to understand how the visit of US diplomats can bring any attempt of peace and diplomacy in this contest, or even hope of any deterrence, after the $2 billion sale of weapons to Taiwan.
Business is really booming for US arms manufacturers in every angle of the globe, but the world is becoming a more dangerous place day after day
https://www.livemint.com/news/china-warns-us-of-countermeasures-after-2-billion-dollar-arms-deal-with-taiwan-11729990541381.html
TaiwanIsNotChina
You mean because the weapons are what really bring peace? I could see that.
Still 1% of US gdp.
Fos
Savio
The US administration allocated over US 910 billion dollars in arms in 2023, three times as much as China.
The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute estimated that military spending in Central and Western Europe alone reached $407 billion in 2023, all US made weapons. Imagine this year.
And that is not counting the hidden arm sales to Israel this year, no matter how Wall Street is celebrating record highs.
And now the mighty US diplomats are switching their attention to Taiwan.
We should all thank them for bringing peace!
isabelle
It's very simple: the better armed/prepared Taiwan is, the less likely China is to invade.
(And whatever profits US (or any other) arms manufacturers make, the fact remains that Taiwan requests these arms.)
If Taiwan were unable to defend itself, and there were no chance of the US intervening, China would certainly swoop in and annex it. Just like it does to other completely peaceful countries like Bhutan, which have nothing to do with the Chinese Civil War or "century of humiliation."
https://thediplomat.com/2024/10/the-politics-of-chinas-land-appropriation-in-bhutan/
Fos
Most of the Democrats and Republicans in Washington are linked with the arms industry. The powerful lobbies connected to the foreign policies of the country.
Just as reminder, the SIPRI Top 100 arms-producing and military services companies in the world are all American, in order:
Lockheed Martin Corp (USA)
Raytheon Technologies (USA)
Northrop Grumman Corp (USA)
Boeing (USA)
General Dynamics Corp (USA)
Check their result on the stock market in the last year. We should all thank them for peace :)
JJE
Taiwan really has no more recognition that any other place that lacks UN recognition.
Indeed, probably less than certain other places., which is disgraceful.
But the fundamental issue is it has none in the first place.
ulysses
I assure our Taiwanese friends that donald barely knows where he is and what he speaks, he will be packed off to a prison soon and will spend the rest of his life fighting wars from his cell!!!
TaiwanIsNotChina
Yes, truly shocking that the US would be the arms supplier to the free world.
Indeed you should as asking nicely for indepdence won't move Xi one bit.
Yup 1-5 are American, and 6-10 are Chinese.
Indeed you should. Nobody else is defending countries from heinous assault.
TaiwanIsNotChina
But more than russia's disgraces.
Steal s**t and you will be known as a thief.
12 countries is not zero recognition and we can see from the history that the situation is entirely due to PRC bullying.
isabelle
Does not change the fact that Taiwan requests these arms.
And the sales will continue until the CCP falls, so that China stops being a threat to Taiwan and everyone else.
Fos
Back to school for the definition the word "Bullying" or "Threat"
I would suggest using "Economic returns" and "Greed"
China has 4 known military bases in the world, one of them is in Djibouti, the Horn of East Africa.
In contrast, the US has over 700 overseas bases including in Guam, Diego Garcia, ROK and Japan that ring China. The US fleet regularly patrols off the China coast and Taiwan.
Your should convince yourself first :)
Fos
China does not have a history of military aggression beyond the defence of its own borders.
The United States has repeatedly embarked on military interventions across the globe.
As it was pointed out early, in the course of the 20th century alone, Washington has participated in 39 armed conflicts, or one every three years, and since 2000 it has engaged in at least 12 wars, the equivalent of one every two years.
And here we have these lectures on the “concepts of Bullying" or "Threats"
Daniel Neagari
True... China armed forces are mainly aimed to their own ('天安門), or to suppress liberites in Tibet and so on...
Chinese military has no experience fighting and if it will a fight it will be only because of it size and cannon fodder soilders....
bass4funk
Well, I wouldn’t want to die for Taiwan….
That will continue, but number one priority is, no US ground troops.
Daniel Neagari
@bass
You know that US territories are also threatened by China, don't you?
Early preventation and disabling the enemy to even threat the first line of defense of your own territories should be important
bass4funk
US territories, yes, different story.
So who’s going to do that and how would that look?
isabelle
This nonsense again?
China is engaged in military/paramilitary aggression right now in the South China Sea, plus threatening behavior in a whole host of other areas (even up to full annexation of territory, per my Bhutan case above).
It's also still invading the Indian border, despite the recent preliminary agreement. And that's before we even consider things like the Tibet annexation.
bass4funk
Ok, so you think we should send US troops, ground troops to die for Taiwan in order to keep a hold of cheaper CPU chips?