Can Benefits from TikTok and Taiwan Be Evaluated the Same Way?
After U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sept. 19, Trump announced that an agreement had been reached over TikTok. According to analysis by The New York Times, China hopes for more room to negotiate on the issues of tariffs, technology and Taiwan. While this call between Trump and Xi focused on TikTok and didn’t touch on Taiwan, the fact is that many economic problems remain for the U.S. and China. More meetings between Trump and Xi will probably occur in the future. In terms of benefits, can the TikTok deal be evaluated the same way as the issue of Taiwan? Unfortunately, this grossly underrates Taiwan.
The analysis by The New York Times is primarily from China’s viewpoint. Objectively speaking, however, the attitude of Trump 2.0 toward Taiwan differs from that of Trump 1.0. The Washington Post reported that, to facilitate trade agreements with China and a summit with Xi, Trump paused more than $400 million in military aid to Taiwan this past summer. While this didn’t affect arms sales between Taiwan and the U.S., it gave China face. With his ever-changing calculations of benefit, Trump seems to have shifted to seeking results from direct negotiation with China after his fruitless attempts to mediate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. The tariff negotiations between Taiwan and the U.S. come from two unfairly different positions. Obviously, Taiwan has no choice other than to allow the U.S. to make endless demands while being extremely careful and cautious.
China’s suspected data theft on the back end of TikTok is a security issue democratic countries jointly guard against. In his first term, President Trump wanted to take action on this issue, but TikTok’s online influence was so strong that when he ran for reelection, his campaign was negatively affected. Four years later with his return, TikTok has switched from being against Trump to supporting him. In reality, the momentum behind Trump’s rise this time was huge, and TikTok merely rode the wave, earning Trump’s favor. Trump has repeatedly been lenient toward TikTok, ultimately settling things on the call with Xi. We can see that the U.S. is no longer trying to oppose China through suppression but is instead drawing it closer for face-to-face talks. China, however, is adept at turning small advantages into big profits. Many previous U.S. presidents were unable to gain anything from China and even suffered losses. Will China’s untrustworthiness, which even Trump has experienced, improve in the future?
A scholar in Shanghai bluntly stated that the reciprocal tariffs Trump levied on the whole world helped China to eliminate many of its competitors. What has the U.S. gained and lost in these tariff wars? What kind of strategic opportunities has the China-Russia alignment gained? If the highly instrumentalized TikTok is exchanged during a meeting between Trump and Xi, what is Taiwan’s relationship with the U.S. worth if it can’t even get a meeting between heads of state? The international situation has always been strange and ever-changing, leaving Taiwan no room to lower its guard.
The analysis by The New York Times is primarily from China’s viewpoint. Objectively speaking, however, the attitude of Trump 2.0 toward Taiwan differs from that of Trump 1.0. The Washington Post reported that, to facilitate trade agreements with China and a summit with Xi, Trump paused more than $400 million in military aid to Taiwan this past summer. While this didn’t affect arms sales between Taiwan and the U.S., it gave China face. With his ever-changing calculations of benefit, Trump seems to have shifted to seeking results from direct negotiation with China after his fruitless attempts to mediate an end to the Russia-Ukraine war. The tariff negotiations between Taiwan and the U.S. come from two unfairly different positions. Obviously, Taiwan has no choice other than to allow the U.S. to make endless demands while being extremely careful and cautious.
China’s suspected data theft on the back end of TikTok is a security issue democratic countries jointly guard against. In his first term, President Trump wanted to take action on this issue, but TikTok’s online influence was so strong that when he ran for reelection, his campaign was negatively affected. Four years later with his return, TikTok has switched from being against Trump to supporting him. In reality, the momentum behind Trump’s rise this time was huge, and TikTok merely rode the wave, earning Trump’s favor. Trump has repeatedly been lenient toward TikTok, ultimately settling things on the call with Xi. We can see that the U.S. is no longer trying to oppose China through suppression but is instead drawing it closer for face-to-face talks. China, however, is adept at turning small advantages into big profits. Many previous U.S. presidents were unable to gain anything from China and even suffered losses. Will China’s untrustworthiness, which even Trump has experienced, improve in the future?
A scholar in Shanghai bluntly stated that the reciprocal tariffs Trump levied on the whole world helped China to eliminate many of its competitors. What has the U.S. gained and lost in these tariff wars? What kind of strategic opportunities has the China-Russia alignment gained? If the highly instrumentalized TikTok is exchanged during a meeting between Trump and Xi, what is Taiwan’s relationship with the U.S. worth if it can’t even get a meeting between heads of state? The international situation has always been strange and ever-changing, leaving Taiwan no room to lower its guard.
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