Former US president Donald Trump has said Taiwan should pay the US for its defence guarantees, a statement that sent shudders through the island nation on Wednesday and highlighted the stakes of the upcoming presidential election for Washington’s allies and partners in Asia.
Shares of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest chipmaker by sales, dropped 2.4 per cent after the Republican nominee said in an interview with Bloomberg published on Tuesday that Taiwan “stole our chip business” and “should pay [the US] for defence”, referring to the implicit security guarantee provided by the American military.
“You know, we’re no different than an insurance company,” Trump added. “Taiwan doesn’t give us anything.”
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