WASHINGTON, Feb 27: Washington’s allies in Asia fear that the United States may not support Taiwan if the island’s tensions with China escalate, NBC News reported on Thursday, citing former US officials.
The Trump administration’s stance on the Ukraine conflict is raising concerns among Asian partners that Washington may not come to Taiwan’s aid if China tries to take control of the island by force or coercion, the broadcaster reported.
Earlier in the month, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that Washington prioritized “deterring war with China” in the Indo-Pacific because of the alleged threat to US core national interests.
High-level Russia-US talks were held in Riyadh last week. Russian and US delegations, led by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, held landmark talks in Riyadh to discuss the future of bilateral relations and Ukraine, among other issues. Following the talks, Lavrov said that Russia and the US had agreed to create high-level working groups to begin work on a speedy resolution of the crisis in Ukraine.
The situation around Taiwan escalated in August 2022, when then-speaker of the US House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi visited the island. Beijing condemned Pelosi’s visit, saying it symbolized US support for Taiwanese separatism, and conducted large-scale military exercises around the island.
Official relations between China’s central government and its island province broke down in 1949 after defeated Kuomintang forces led by Chiang Kai-shek moved to Taiwan in a civil war with the Chinese Communist Party. Business and informal contacts between the island and mainland China resumed in the late 1980s. Since the early 1990s, the two sides have maintained contacts through non-governmental organizations. (UNI)
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