Taiwan's foreign ministry declared the island a "sovereign and independent democratic nation" on Saturday, stating that it is "not subordinate to the People's Republic of China.” The statement came hours after President Donald Trump, wrapping up a two-day state visit to Beijing, told Fox News he opposes Taiwan pursuing formal independence, described a pending $14 billion arms package as a "very good negotiating chip," and repeated his claim that Taiwan "stole" the U.S. semiconductor industry. Trump said he wants 40% to 50% of global chip production on American soil by the end of his term.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump delivered notably different messages about Taiwan within the same 24-hour period. Rubio told NBC News late Thursday that U.S. policy is "unchanged as of today," warned it would be "a terrible mistake" for China to use force, and said there would be global "repercussions" if Beijing moved militarily.
Trump, in a Fox News interview taped Friday in Beijing, took a markedly different stance. He questioned why the U.S. would travel 9,500 miles to fight a war and called Taiwan "a very small island" 59 miles from mainland China. On the arms package: "I haven't approved it yet. We're going to see what happens," he said.
Chinese President Xi Jinping had opened the summit by warning that mishandling the Taiwan issue could lead to "clashes and even conflicts.” Trump, meanwhile, has previously called Taiwan’s semiconductor dominance a form of theft, and on Friday, he reiterated that he wanted all of the island's chipmakers to move to the United States.
That demand sits alongside an already-signed trade deal in which Taiwan committed $500 billion in U.S. semiconductor investment for reduced tariffs, with TSMC alone pledging $165 billion toward Arizona fab expansion. Taiwan's parliament also approved a $25 billion defense budget, with roughly $9 billion covering the first tranche of the December arms package and a second phase worth over $15 billion still awaiting U.S. approval.
Taiwan has already rejected Washington's push to transfer half of its advanced chipmaking capacity to U.S. soil and restricted TSMC from producing its most advanced process nodes outside Taiwan. Uncertainty over U.S. security commitments could reinforce that stance because Taiwan's semiconductor leverage is most valuable when production remains concentrated on the island.
Taiwan's Presidential Office highlighted "multiple reaffirmations" from both Trump and Rubio that U.S. policy remains unchanged, with spokeswoman Karen Kuo saying Taipei looks forward to continued cooperation "under the firm commitments of the Taiwan Relations Act.” The foreign ministry separately called arms sales a form of "joint deterrence against regional threats."
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