Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo believes it’s in the US’s ‘national interest’ to retain its presence in Asia.
“We definitely recognize the rapidly changing and intricate global situation and firmly believe that it’s crucial to consider not only shared values but also national interests,” Taiwanese Defense Minister Wellington Koo stated to the press on Monday.
“Therefore, we have to ask: Is maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, including the status quo across the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, a fundamental US national interest?” Koo questioned.
“It is highly unlikely for the United States to pull back from the Indo-Pacific since it is such a core national interest for them,”
Koo also affirmed that Taiwan would persist in utilizing “deterrence and strength as means to secure peace and stability with China.”
Koo’s comments follow Trump’s decision to halt all military aid to Ukraine, intensifying his dispute with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Until now, the US was Ukraine’s primary military supporter in its conflict with Russia.
Although the US does not officially recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, the 1979 Taiwan Relations Act mandates Washington to supply Taipei with the necessary means for self-defense.
Trump’s readiness to overturn established US alliances has sparked concerns that he might adopt the same approach in East Asia.
Taiwan is an essential component of the US’s “First Island Chain” defense strategy, an imagined line stretching from Malaysia to Japan aimed at curbing China’s expansion into the Pacific.
The island is also situated adjacent to a crucial international trade route.
In 2022, 88 percent of the world’s largest ships by tonnage passed through the Taiwan Strait, as reported by Risk Intelligence, a corporate intelligence firm based in Denmark.
