When Donald Trump accepted a phone call from Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen, many Taiwanese were delighted at having a spotlight turned on their diplomatic isolation.
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But that elation is turning to apprehension as the island risks becoming a pawn in a wider game between two superpowers.
President-elect Trump suggested Sunday that US support for Taiwan was negotiable and the “one China” policy that has governed relations between the three governments for decades could be a source of leverage to force concessions from China on other issues.
“Being the lever isn’t a good place for Taiwan,” said Joanna Lei, a former legislator who now heads the Chung Hua 21th Century Think Tank in Taipei.
“China can’t make a hasty move on the US or Donald Trump, but China can easily make a move on Taiwan,” she said.
“So if China is going to lean, which side are they going to lean on? Of course they will lean on Taiwan.”
China has already stepped up air patrols around Taiwan and the wider region.
On Saturday, Chinese military aircraft circled the international airspace surrounding Taiwan, prompting Japan’s military to scramble fighter jets over an alleged trespass.
And on December 7 and 8, China flew nuclear-capable bombers over its claims in the disputed waters of the South China Sea.
“Although all parties maintained their cool and avoided a clash, a war of nerves in the Asia-Pacific region is under way,” the Taipei Times said in an editorial Tuesday.
And Fitch, a ratings agency, has said that the risks of an economic shock to Taiwan were low but have risen.
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Monday that President Barack Obama doesn’t view the US relationship with Taiwan as a bargaining chip, and said that agreements on climate change and North Korea would be more difficult if that policy is changed.
But Trump’s comments in an interview on “Fox News Sunday” suggested that the incoming administration wouldn’t be constrained by the “one China” policy.
“I fully understand the ‘one China’ policy, but I don’t know why we have to be bound by a ‘one China’ policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade,” Trump said.
“I mean, look, we’re being hurt very badly by China with devaluation, with taxing us heavy at the borders when we don’t tax them, with building a massive fortress in the middle of the South China Sea, which they shouldn’t be doing, and frankly with not helping us at all with North Korea,” he added.
