Trump’s win stokes fears in Taiwan about chips and defence

The island’s administration is projecting calm but others are keeping wary watch

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Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te congratulated Donald Trump on his US presidential win well after various state leaders did so. Photo: EPA-EFE

Published: 7:00pm, 7 Nov 2024

Taiwan’s leader has sought to project confidence about any potential fallout from a second Trump term on the island’s defence and semiconductor industries.

“I am confident that the long-standing Taiwan-US partnership, based on shared values and interests, will continue to serve as a cornerstone of regional stability and lead to greater prosperity for us all,” Taiwanese leader William Lai Ching-te said on Wednesday in a congratulatory message to Donald Trump on his re-election as the US president.

Lai posted his message online several hours after various state leaders – including Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi – did so.

Despite Trump’s confrontational approach towards Beijing during his previous term, he has appeared less than supportive of Taiwan since losing the 2020 presidential race, calling on the island to roughly quadruple its defence budget to 10 per cent of GDP and questioning whether the United States should go to the island’s aid if it came under attack from the People’s Liberation Army.

In an interview with Bloomberg Businessweek in July, Trump also said it was “stupid” for the US to protect Taiwan for free.

John Bolton, the president-elect’s former national security adviser, said earlier that a Trump return to the White House could mean that “Taiwan is potentially toast,”.