Former national security adviser John Bolton is warning that the United States could abandon Taiwan in pursuit of a grand trade bargain with China if President Donald Trump has his way.
Bolton Paints Trump As Purely Transactional Dealmaker
Bolton, who served in Trump's first administration and has since become a sharp critic, said he believes Trump would be willing to "sell out" the self-ruled island for what he could market as a historic economic deal with Beijing. "They should be scared," Bolton said of Taiwan's leaders in an interview with The Economist published Thursday.
He argued Trump's foreign policy is "purely transactional," driven less by strategy than by a desire to be seen as a "brilliant dealmaker." In Bolton's telling, Trump "would trade anything if need be" for something "astonishingly large and shiny" in return from Chinese President Xi Jinping, for whom Taiwan's status is a top priority.
Oval Office Anecdote Highlights Taiwan Power Imbalance
Bolton recalled a moment in the Oval Office when Trump, using a Sharpie pen and the massive Resolute desk, illustrated his view of the power imbalance. "See that, that's Taiwan," Trump said, pointing to the pen tip, before indicating the desk, "That's China." Bolton said the analogy showed how little Trump valued Taiwan as a democratic ally.
Regional Allies Nervous As Taiwan Debate Escalates
His warnings come as Washington tries to manage a fresh flare-up between Japan and China over Taiwan. After Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi suggested a Chinese attack on the island could trigger Japanese military action, Xi spent roughly half of an hour-long call with Trump stressing Taiwan's "return to China" as central to Beijing's vision of the world order. Later that day, Trump phoned Takaichi and urged her not to infuriate Beijing over Taiwan's sovereignty, Japanese and U.S. officials told Reuters and the Wall Street Journal.
Japan's public broadcaster NHK, in a separate report later on Thursday, stated that Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told reporters he firmly denied Trump had offered such advice to Takaichi and said the Japanese government had filed a complaint with WSJ.
Al Jazeera reported on Thursday that Trump's public silence on Japan's dispute with China has rattled officials in Tokyo, who fear he could soften support for Taiwan to clinch a trade accord, emboldening Beijing in an increasingly militarized region.
Photo Courtesy: Christopher Halloran on Shutterstock.com
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