TAIPEI (Reuters) – Taiwan must show it is determined to defend itself no matter who wins the U.S. presidency on Nov. 5, Defence Minister Wellington Koo said on Tuesday as the U.S. election campaign entered its final hours.
Donald Trump, the Republican candidate for the U.S. presidency and neck and neck in the polls with Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, has made comments on the campaign trail that Taiwan should pay to be protected and also accused the island of stealing American semiconductor business.
Democratically-governed Taiwan, which China views as its own territory, has faced a sustained military pressure campaign from Beijing over the past five years, including four major rounds of war games in the past two years.
“No matter who is elected (as U.S. president), we have to let them understand that Taiwan has the determination to defend itself, and the importance of Taiwan’s economic security and strategic geopolitical position,” Koo told reporters on the sidelines of parliament.
He said the government’s position was to continuously strengthen its self-defence capabilities.
“We take the attitude of maintaining regional peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait to let the world see Taiwan’s value, whether in terms of economic security or Taiwan’s strategic geopolitical position, so that the world can see the important value of Taiwan,” Koo said, when asked was he nervous a new Trump administration would abandon the island.
While the United States is Taiwan’s most important international backer and arms supplier despite the absence of formal diplomatic ties, Taiwan has also made developing its own weapons systems a priority, like missiles and submarines.
Taiwan has reported an uptick in Chinese military activities as the U.S. election has approached, including China staging long-range air force drills into the Pacific passing through air space to the island’s south.
Taiwan received strong backing from Trump’s administration during 2017 to 2021, including arms sales, which have continued under the government of President Joe Biden.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Michael Perry)
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