U.S.-Taiwan Relations

Calls for Taiwan to allocate 5 or even 10 percent of its GDP to defense – popularized by figures like Donald Trump – risk oversimplifying Taiwan’s unique fiscal and security challenges.

Taiwan hopes to keep ties with the U.S. stable, and Trump's slate of appointees is a mixed bag in that regard.

Insights from Elizabeth Freund Larus.

The Republican candidate has needled Taipei about its reliance on the United States, but Taiwan can still count on U.S. support if Trump returns to the White House.

“Perhaps more so than in other countries given its unique political status, Taiwan’s voters attach greater significance to foreign policy and more precisely relations with the United States and China.”

Taiwan’s sales of semiconductors to Chinese entities paradoxically feed a threat to Taiwan’s very existence. Why, then, does Taiwan persist with these exports?

Amidst the strategic competition between the United States and China, Taiwan's encounters with Chinese aggression offer essential perspectives for U.S. policymakers and the public.

The next 4 years will test Taiwan’s resilience in the face of geopolitical rivalry, climate crisis, diminishing socioeconomic prospects, and an aging society while being led by a divided government.

Views from Australia, Japan, the Philippines, South Korea, and Taiwan.

The U.S. – along with Taiwanese people – draws the important distinction between de jure Taiwanese independence and the existing status quo of Taiwanese autonomy and self-governance. 

Vice President William Lai, who is also the DPP's presidential candidate, transited New York and San Francisco this week.

Washington needs to recognize that the situation in both places is part of a single, interconnected struggle to contain Chinese influence.