00:00U.S. President Donald Trump says he doesn't think Chinese President Xi Jinping will attack Taiwan as long as Trump is in office.
00:07He made the comments in an interview with the New York Times after being asked if recent U.S. military action in Venezuela
00:13sets a dangerous precedent for the cross-street situation.
00:17For more on this and the reaction in Taiwan, we turn now to Chris Gorin in our Taipei Newsroom.
00:23So Chris, what exactly did Trump say about Taiwan in this interview?
00:26Well, he said a lot, Jeremy, and not just about Taiwan.
00:33You know, Trump really laid out a stark new vision for American foreign policy,
00:38which could best be described by the philosophy of might makes right.
00:42You know, when questioned whether he has any limits on his global powers,
00:46he said the only thing that could stop him was, quote, his own morality,
00:50and even saying at one point in the interview that I don't need international law.
00:54Now, these comments are coming just as the U.S. carried out military strikes and captured the president of Venezuela,
01:02and as Trump has been making comments about potentially buying or even annexing the Danish territory of Greenland.
01:10Now, obviously, there's been some comparisons in the media between those places and Taiwan,
01:16which China claims as its own territory.
01:19Now, when a reporter mentioned to Trump that Xi Jinping sees Taiwan as a separatist threat,
01:26Trump seemed to address a potential attack on Taiwan by saying, quote,
01:30that's up to him.
01:32I've expressed to him that I would be very unhappy if he did that, and I don't think he'll do that.
01:36I hope he doesn't.
01:38He may do it after we have a different president, but I don't think he's going to do it with me as president.
01:44Now, for the response from Taiwan, one expert that I spoke to said that comments like these
01:49aren't likely to change the overall picture in the Taiwan Strait.
01:52I would say Beijing has no illusion at all.
01:59From what I can see is that since 1995-1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis,
02:05Beijing has a very strong belief that the U.S. will get involved.
02:10I would say beginning from Biden era,
02:12although Biden is different from the President Trump,
02:17different approach to dealing with so-called potential threat from China
02:22or potential tension in this region.
02:25But I would say there's some kind of a consistent here,
02:29whether it's in Democrats or Republicans,
02:32they all know the importance of this region to the national interest of the United States.
02:38So I would say President Trump also knows quite well.
02:42Okay, so you're not so pessimistic on the defense issue,
02:45but if we look at the wider picture,
02:47this week has really seen the U.S. appear to challenge and withdraw from major parts of the
02:54international system, a system that Taiwan has spent decades trying to increase its own role in.
03:00So what might this new role for the U.S. in the global system mean for smaller countries like Taiwan?
03:07No doubt, you know, the President Trump's action, the behavior really surprised us and shocked us.
03:15But for him, maybe, you know, he thinks this is the way of approach to make,
03:22to make correction and make, you know, United States become the biggest,
03:27the supremacist power again.
03:29This is the only way he can approach, he can take.
03:32We might disagree with that, but, you know, again,
03:37there's nothing we can do as small actors, you know, because there's no doubt,
03:42you know, United States remains the supremacist power in the world.
03:46There's a basic thing in the international relations, you know,
03:50the big power can take whatever action he can take,
03:54and small actors have to suffer, you know.
03:56So, like you heard in those comments just now,
04:01many experts that I've spoken to don't expect the overall security situation
04:05in Taiwan Strait to see any big changes.
04:08But when it comes to global power structures,
04:11that's a different question, Jeremy.
04:14Thanks, Chris.
04:15That was Chris Gorin reporting from our Taipei Newsroom.
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