Americas

Analysis: What Trump’s UN Speech Means for Taiwan and China

Published

By Devin Tsai/John Van Trieste

Open in App

US President Donald Trump didn't mention Taiwan in his latest speech to the UN, and he only made brief mention of China. Professor Ja Ian Chong of the National University of Singapore analyzes the speech's significance for Taiwan and China, as well as the broader region.

Trump’s UN Speech: What It Means for Taiwan and China

 

---

 

REPORTER:  

For a better understanding of what Trump’s UN speech means for Taiwan and China, reporter John Van Trieste spoke to Ja Ian Chong of the National University of Singapore.

 

John Van Trieste (TAIWANPLUS REPORTER):  

So during his UN speech, Trump mentioned a wide range of topics. But Taiwan, the Taiwan Strait, didn't figure in his remarks, and he really didn't mention China that much. Why do you think that is?

 

Ja Ian Chong (PROFESSOR, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE):  

Well, Trump's speech seems well, a lot of his speeches seem to be focused on what is on his mind at that particular moment or sort of around that time. So it just would appear to me that for whatever reason, Trump was not thinking hard about China or Taiwan when he was preparing and making his speech. I mean, he has a very impromptu style. He talked a lot about teleprompters and escalators, for instance.

 

REPORTER:  

But do you think that this lack of mention of China or even the Indo-Pacific shows some sort of change in US policy towards Taiwan or China?

 

Ja Ian Chong (PROFESSOR, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE):  

It could, but it's really hard to tell from just one Trump speech. I mean, one thing we know from Trump is he sort of flies by the seat of his pants a little bit, especially when making public deliveries of speeches. So, you know, it could be that some change, it could be just that it's not interesting to him at this moment, those topics.

 

REPORTER:  

Do we have any indication from other US officials about what this might mean?

 

Ja Ian Chong (PROFESSOR, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE):  

So far, I haven't seen any sort of readouts that talk about the China relationship. I mean, what we do know is that, you know, there was that TikTok deal that Trump had touted as a big victory for himself. What that actually means in terms of details we've not seen, but that's the sort of most recent sort of big issue he's sort of touched on with China. He's, you know, touched on other issues such as buying Russian oil. But that didn't come up this time around. In fact, when he talked about Russian oil in this speech, it had it referenced the Europeans actually.

 

REPORTER:  

Well, even if the US policy hasn't changed towards the Indo-Pacific region and Taiwan and China, can we say from this speech that maybe the US's foreign policy focus has shifted? After all, he had a meeting with Zelenskyy afterwards and was talking about Ukraine.

 

Ja Ian Chong (PROFESSOR, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE):  

Certainly. He seems that, in this speech that, the Trump administration and Trump himself seems far more supportive of the Ukrainian war effort of the Europeans as they resist Russian aggression. So that seems to be what's at the top of his mind, whether that means that there is some sort of going to be some sort of sacrifice of U.S. resources in the Indo-Pacific. That is, it's not possible to tell that from the speech.