Taiwan Dares to Hope Trump Will Back It Against Beijing

The Trump administration is bolstering hopes in Taiwan for increased support for the island, after months of uncertainty about whether President Trump's "America First" agenda could deprive it of a key backer.

- Jonathan Cheng, Joyu Wang & Alexander Ward

In recent days, the U.S. made its first move to cut off Chinese access to high-end technology and hardened its wording in a pair of public statements on Taiwan in ways that are certain to rankle Beijing. Alaska's governor visited Taiwan earlier this month to advance plans to sell its natural gas to energy-starved Taiwan, while last month, the Trump administration quietly released $870 million in previously frozen military aid for Taiwan and sailed two naval ships through the Taiwan Strait.

All the while, American military trainers have discreetly sustained their pace of activity with Taiwanese troops, while political contacts between the U.S. and Taiwan have picked up, with officials from the White House's National Security Council, the State Department and the Pentagon offering reassurances to their counterparts in Taipei.

The Pentagon earlier this month circulated an interim internal guidance document calling for more robust deterrence of China to defend Taiwan against an invasion, though the interim recommendations don't appear to have been implemented, according to a U.S. official familiar with the document. The Washington Post reported earlier on the circulation of the internal guidance memo.

On Friday, Alex Po, Taiwan's deputy defense minister, attended a ceremony in South Carolina marking the handover of part of a $8 billion purchase of F-16V jet fighters to the island, in a rare—if low-key—visit to the U.S. by a senior Taiwanese official.

The upshot: After weeks in which Ukraine awakened fears of U.S. abandonment of Taiwan, officials in Taipei are increasingly confident that they have Trump's backing as Beijing steps up its efforts to subdue the island.

The atmosphere around U.S.-Taiwan relations has improved markedly in recent weeks, a senior Taiwanese official said this week. "There is no reason for complacency," he added, but "there's a good environment that makes it easier for future cooperation."