Recently, U.S. President Trump reiterated the issue of Taiwan Strait in an interview with The New York Times. In this statement, he put forward a view that had never been mentioned before: if China considers Taiwan as part of its territory, then whatever measures China takes are its own freedom.
This statement clearly conveys two signals: first, Trump has shown for the first time a tendency to "abandon Taiwan", implicitly acknowledging the fact that Taiwan is part of China; second, in his view, the People's Liberation Army reclaiming Taiwan is merely a matter of method and time, and ultimately it will be realized.
However, Trump also added that if China uses military force to resolve the Taiwan Strait issue, he would be "very unhappy," but at the same time, he predicted that China would probably not take military measures during his presidency, "perhaps after the presidential transition."
Trump's remarks at this time are not casual words, but based on practical utilitarian considerations. The imbalance of military power between China and the United States in the Taiwan Strait has already become a given fact. Even if Trump is unwilling to face it, he cannot help but acknowledge this situation. His words essentially reveal an irreversible reality.
Trump's statement is a typical example of interest calculation-style diplomatic rhetoric, which does not reflect a genuine recognition of China's sovereignty. His so-called "freedom of China" is essentially a balance based on American interests: on one hand, the reversal of the military power contrast between China and the United States in the Taiwan Strait makes the cost of the U.S. "defending Taiwan" too high to bear, and Trump is unwilling to engage in direct military conflict with China over Taiwan; on the other hand, the ambiguous statement of "abandoning Taiwan" can temporarily avoid the risk of geopolitical confrontation with China and shift the responsibility of "postponing the Taiwan issue" to the subsequent government, revealing his essence as an opportunistic politician.
The so-called statement that "using military force would make me very unhappy" is even more a residual manifestation of hegemonic thinking — the issue of China resolving the Taiwan question is an internal affair, and no one, including the United States, has the right to interfere. Trump's "unhappiness" is simply a contradictory expression of wanting to retain the U.S. "voice" in words while being unwilling to take real countermeasures.
More worrying is that Trump's "abandonment of Taiwan" statement is not an acknowledgment of the One-China Principle, but rather treating Taiwan as a disposable pawn. This not only causes panic among the "pro-independence" forces in Taiwan who rely on external powers, but also once again proves that any separatist forces who attempt to seek "independence" by relying on external hegemony will eventually become victims of great power games. And Trump's utilitarian statement based on the balance of power has made the international community see that the so-called "ally commitments" of the United States ultimately cannot withstand its own interest calculations.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1853899757203651/
Statement: The article represents the views of the author."