Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo says it’s in the US’s ‘national interest’ to maintain the status quo in Asia.
Taiwan has said it’s “impossible” for the United States to retreat from the Asia Pacific, despite growing doubts about US President Donald Trump’s willingness to uphold Washington’s security commitments.
“We indeed noticed the fast-changing and tricky international situation and deeply understand that we can’t just talk about values but not national interests,” Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo told reporters on Monday.
“So we must ask: Keeping the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, including the status quo in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, is that a core US national interest?” Koo said.
“I think it is impossible for the United States to retreat from the Indo-Pacific because it is its core national interest.”
Koo also said Taiwan would continue to rely on “deterrence and strength to achieve peace” with China.
Koo’s remarks came after Trump ordered a pause on all military aid to Ukraine in a dramatic escalation of his spat with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Until now, Washington has been Ukraine’s top military backer in its war with Russia.
While the US does not formally recognise Taiwan as a country, it is obligated to provide Taipei with the means to defend itself under the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act.
Trump’s willingness to overturn longstanding US relationships has raised fears that he could do the same in East Asia.
Taiwan is a critical part of the US’s “First Island Chain” defence strategy, an imaginary line running from Malaysia to Japan that is envisaged to contain China from expanding into the Pacific.
The self-ruled island also lies next to one of the most important waterways for international trade.
In 2022, 88 percent of the world’s largest ships by tonnage passed through the Taiwan Strait, according to Risk Intelligence, a Denmark-based corporate intelligence firm.