Taiwan Has Become A Critical Part Of Donald Trump’s Anti-China Strategy

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In The Media

Taiwan Has Become A Critical Part Of Donald Trump’s Anti-China Strategy

It is having the side effect of appearing to dismantle the policy of ‘engagement’ with China of the previous seven US administrations and the way they treated Taiwan.

By Douglas H. Paal

Published on Aug 30, 2020

Source: National Interest

Since April, the administration of US President Donald Trump has been ratcheting up its rhetoric and actions regarding China. This strategy is intended to deflect blame for its mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic at home. It is having the side effect of appearing to dismantle the policy of ‘engagement’ with China of the previous seven US administrations and the way they treated Taiwan.

Trump sent Alex Azar, his Secretary of Health and Human Services, to visit Taiwan earlier this August. Azar is the first senior-level official of the Trump administration to do so, and the first since 2014 when the then head of the Environmental Protection Agency visited the island on behalf of then president Barack Obama.

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This article was originally published the National Interest.

About the Author

Douglas H. Paal

Distinguished Fellow, Asia Program

Paal previously served as vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase International and as unofficial U.S. representative to Taiwan as director of the American Institute in Taiwan.

Recent Work

Paper
America’s Future in a Dynamic Asia
- Douglas H. Paal
Q&A
U.S.-China Relations at the Forty-Year Mark
- +1
  Douglas H. Paal, Tong Zhao, Chen Qi, …

Political Reform Foreign Policy North America United States East Asia Taiwan

Carnegie India does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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