Trump a chance to change US’ Taiwan policy: ex-official

Staff writer, with CNA





The election of Donald Trump as US president presents a “rare opportunity” for Washington to change its defense policy toward Taiwan, a former US official said on Sunday.

Stephen Bryen, who served was a senior US Department of Defense official in former US president Ronald Reagan’s administration, said that over the past 25 years, the US’ support for Taiwan has been “a lot of comforting words, but also a dumping ground for a lot of military junk,” which left Taiwan with “only half an air force and half a navy.”

“That policy has to be jettisoned, because it is not in Taiwan’s interest or in the interest of the United States,” Bryen said in an American Thinker article.

Taiwan’s air force does not have strike capability, because Washington will not sell Taiwan strike aircraft, such as the F-15 or advanced F-16 jets, and Taiwan’s navy is made up primarily of rejected US frigates, Bryen said.

“Taiwan needs the other ‘half’ of its air force, navy and army in order to deter China. America needs Taiwan to stay safe and free or we lose all of our credibility in Asia,” Bryen said.

“America needs a containment policy for China’s rising power and Taiwan is the right place to start implementing it,” he added.

If Trump, who Bryen described as “a man with great instincts,” can prevail over the established US position, Taiwan is likely to remain independent.

“The usual suspects in the [US] State Department will say that China will object if the United States gave Taiwan a real defense capability. American companies and financial institutions will complain they will lose business if China gets mad at us,” he said.

“Anyway, Mr Trump is not so happy about American companies shifting their manufacturing and technology to China, so maybe this will be part of his planned wake-up call,” the former US official said.

“[US] president-elect Trump has a real opportunity to show China that America is not sleeping anymore,” Bryen added.