MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
President Trump says Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is ready to come to the negotiating table to end Russia's war in Ukraine. Now this comes after that explosive meeting Friday between the two leaders at the White House. It was supposed to conclude with a deal to co-develop Ukraine's rare minerals with the U.S. Trump paused military aid to Ukraine after that meeting fell apart. Last night, though, Trump told Congress he received a letter saying that Zelenskyy will go ahead with that deal. NPR has not independently confirmed the existence of this letter. All that being said, policymakers in Taiwan are watching all of these developments closely. Ashish Valentine reports on this from Taipei.
ASHISH VALENTINE: Switch on any major cable news channel in Taiwan, such as TVBS, and headline news is the same.
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PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: You're gambling with World War III.
VALENTINE: A dramatic showdown between the leaders of Ukraine and the United States. It's prompted heated debates about Taiwan's relations with the U.S.
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UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
VALENTINE: Ever since Russia's full-scale invasion three years ago, Taiwanese policymakers have drawn sharp parallels between Ukraine's fight and their own need to defend against a potential Chinese attack.
WANG TING-YU: If we allow autocracy invaders win this war, that will be a failure of democracy.
VALENTINE: That's Wang Ting-yu, a legislator with the ruling Democratic Progressive Party. He also co-chairs the legislature's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. He thinks the relationship with the U.S. is still strong, despite President Trump's controversial style. But recent developments like the pause on Ukraine aid mean that...
TING-YU: If you don't help yourself, nobody will. We expand our defense budget, not because of some friends require this, because we need that.
VALENTINE: Last year alone, Chinese aircraft crossed near Taiwan over 3,000 times, according to figures from Taiwan's Defense Ministry. In recent weeks, many here have been wondering whether one day, Taiwan could also be left out in the cold.
FANG-YU CHEN: For Mr. Trump, it seems like there's no concept as allies. Everything is transactional. Everything's being measured by how much benefit the U.S. can get.
VALENTINE: That's Chen Fang-yu, a political scientist at Soochow University in Taipei.
CHEN: We have to get used to this because Mr. Trump is always like this. This is his style.
VALENTINE: Although the new administration has yet to detail their policy on Taiwan, Trump has, on the campaign trail, accused Taiwan of taking American jobs. This rattled many in Taiwan, but Bonnie Glaser of the German Marshall Fund think tank says it might just be a negotiating tactic. In other words, Trump's famous art of the deal.
BONNIE GLASER: But I believe the president is doing this simply to gain leverage, to convince Taiwan to do more things that Trump wants.
VALENTINE: Glaser thinks that could mean getting Taiwan to import more from the U.S. and invest more in American manufacturing. Taiwanese industry's already moving in that direction. Earlier this week, Trump announced Taiwan's leading semiconductor manufacturer, TSMC, had agreed to invest a hundred billion dollars into chip manufacturing plants in the U.S.
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TRUMP: This is a tremendous move by the most powerful company in the world. It's a matter of economic security. It's also a matter of national security for us.
VALENTINE: This is in addition to its existing investments that had expanded considerably under the Biden administration.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: You have opened...
VALENTINE: Outside of Taiwan's political leadership, ordinary Taiwanese are following events in Ukraine closely, as well.
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UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: And you have kind hearts. You understand that strongmen, dictators...
VALENTINE: A week ago, about 100 protesters gathered outside Russia's de facto embassy in downtown Taipei to mark three years since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. One of them, Deng Ruei-yun, said she felt the U.S. is selling out Ukraine.
DENG RUEI-YUN: (Through interpreter) I think the Taiwanese people should think about what we can provide to the Americans so they can offer us more help instead of selling us out.
VALENTINE: Taiwan had better make a convincing offer, she says, to stop Trump from changing his mind about the island's fate.
For NPR News, I'm Ashish Valentine in Taipei.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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