Trump’s sudden turn to Ukraine, does Ukraine bother Taiwan when China vows to seize the island?

On the first day of China’s grand National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber stamp legislature’s annual agenda meeting, Beijing announced it would increase its military spending by nearly $250 billion this year, an increase of more than 7% as it continues to modernize its armed forces. Beijing has been rapidly strengthening its military while it is urgent Improve confidenceterritorial claims about disputed islands in the South China Sea everywhere, and their claims on democratically managed Taiwan islands.

China believes Taiwan is a traitor province, and President Xi Jinping vows to regain Benite’s control over the island for many years if necessary. However, Taiwan has had decades of alternative reserves from its largest international partner, the United States, which is obliged to provide the island with sufficient means to defend itself from any invaders under U.S. domestic law.

The U.S. military has continuously laid U.S. military ships and aircraft in the water and sky of the South China Sea near Taiwan, which the U.S. military says is the right to sail freely in international space. Free navigation action leads to some Tension encounter In recent years.

Over the past week, the Taiwan government and its 23 million people have watched President Trump’s positive gesture with Ukraine and his explosion with President Vorodimi Zelenskyy in the White House last Friday.

“I think the overall situation of these events is deeply disturbing to the Taiwanese people,” Russell Hsiao, executive director of the Global Taiwan Institute in Washington, D.C., told CBS News. “I think it seems like the U.S. support for Ukraine, which has caused some doubts among Taiwanese people whether it is possible that this will happen to them in the fight against China – having its most important, most important security partner, so that its most important, most important security partner will be removed from under them.”

Taiwan’s history in the United States and Trump

Since 1950 – the Communist Party won a year after China’s civil war against nationalists, and later fled to Taiwan and eventually established its own democratic government – ​​the United States has sold more than $50 billion worth of weapons to Taipei, including Himaer Rocket systems, F-16 jet fighters and dozens of senior Abrams tanks, according to the Foreign Relations Council think tank.

The Taiwan government has spent nearly 2.5% of its $20 billion budget on national defense.

But Taiwan’s pressure is building more things from the Trump administration to do more things–similar to pressures against Britain and EU strengthens their defense spending When the White House tries to shift the economic burden of supporting Ukraine to its neighbors and let Ukraine contribute more to the alliance.

On Tuesday, Mr. Trump’s defense secretary nominee said Taiwan should spend four times its defense.

“I agree with President Trump, they should be [spending] More like 10%, or at least something on that court, really focusing on their defense. ”

Taiwan President Lai Ching-te quickly made a proposal to increase his administration’s defense spending to more than 3%, a move that would require approval from Taiwan’s Congress’ legislative rule.

Talai hasn’t spoken directly to Trump since the U.S. president won reelection in November, but he conveyed his congratulations through Ambassador Robert O’Brien, a former national security adviser to Mr. Trump.

That is in sharp contrast to Lai’s predecessor, Ty Wayne. Mr. Trump controversially accepted the then-Tewani President Tai’s call for congratulations within weeks of the first election in 2016, aiming to maintain a relationship with relatives in Beijing.

Mr. Trump’s transition panel said at the time that the president spoke about “close economic, political and security relations” that angered Beijing.

By then, no U.S. president was elected or incumbent president directly spoke to Taiwan’s leaders since 1979, when Washington turned it from Taiwan to communist China during a ruling with the Nixon administration.

Taiwan may have a “better hand” with Trump

While the differences in their personal participation may be some reason for Taipei, Hosmo of the Global Institute of Taiwan this week used Mr. Trump to curb geopolitics as the framework for card games, after he told Zelenskyy that Ukraine had “no cards” to increase the demand for U.S. security assurance.”

“Taiwan does help better in terms of reciprocal bilateral relations,” Hsiao said. “It’s still a strong economic partnership, a strong security relationship and of course a very important high-tech industry.”

Despite its size – Taiwan has much less ground than West Virginia, densely populated islands are one of the top trading partners in the United States. In 2024, it is the seventh largest, with an estimated trade value of nearly $160 billion, according to the U.S. government.

Ukraine’s key minerals deal with the United States this week Hanging in an unsigned limboTSMC, the most important and valuable company in Taiwan, provides semiconductors to some of the world’s largest companies including NVIDIA, Apple and Google. $100 billion deal with Mr. Trump Build five new semiconductor facilities in Arizona.

President Trump said that this will “create thousands of jobs – thousands of jobs, and are highly paid jobs.”

He said the news will bring Taiwan’s U.S. semiconductor investment to about $165 billion.

TSMC CEO CC WEI said: “We will produce many chips to support the advancement of AI and support the progress of smartphones, and we once again thank President Trump for his support.”

Mr. Trump often accuses Taiwan of “stealing” from the U.S. semiconductor industry and working in the U.S.

Mr Trump said TSMC will now be exempt from the 25% tariff he imposed in the foreign semiconductor industry after the agreement was signed.

The deal may have caused sighs from Taipei leaders, but they are unlikely to let the guards down as the bigger, bigger and better equipped China is less than 100 miles away from the hotel.

“For the leader Taipei, keep calm and [be] While dealing with the Trump administration, Cool, “Hsiao told CBS News. But to ensure that under the Trump administration it is the most important security partnership, it is the most important security partnership, it is the most important security partnership, it is the most important security partnership, it is the most important security partnership.”