The Trump White House is encouraging high-level visits to Taiwan, but many on the island are worried this will make them a pawn in the great power game with China.
BuzzFeed News
Date: March 25, 2018
By: Megha Rajagopalan, BuzzFeed News Reporter
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Ties between the US and Taiwan, the self-governed island that China
Sam Yeh / AFP / Getty ImagesTaiwan President Tsai Ing-wen watches a military exercise.
sees as part of its territory, are getting warmer. But many Taiwanese politicians and scholars are worried that it could become a pawn in the great power game between an increasingly erratic Trump administration and China.
While the strengthening of US support for Taiwan has been welcomed by President Tsai Ing-wen, others are urging caution, including members of Tsai’s own party.
On March 16, President Donald Trump signed a bill that encourages high-level official visits between the US and Taiwan — a prospect that sounds routine, but would be a major development in relations. Only a handful of US cabinet-level officials have visited Taiwan over the last 50 years. [FULL STORY]