Trump cannot ‘sell out’ Taiwan’s interests: former premier

Washington--) Former Premier Yu Shyi-kun (???) said Friday that he has asked about the possibility of U.S. President Donald Trump "selling out" Taiwan and got a reassurance from Edwin Feulner, a former president of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank.

Among the many "pointed questions" Yu put to Feulner, he asked whether Trump will "sell out" Taiwan, as some have suggested.

According to Yu, Feulner asked in return how any U.S. president could betray Taiwan when there exists the Taiwan Relations Act (TRA), U.S. legislation governing relations with Taiwan.

Speaking to reporters in Washington, Yu quoted Feulner, an advisor to the Trump transition team, as saying that Taiwan need not worry too much.

Yu interpreted Feulner's response to his question as meaning that a U.S. president cannot sell out Taiwan's interests even if he wants to, because he has to act in accordance to U.S. law in the shape of the 1979 TRA.

The TRA was enacted in 1979 to maintain commercial, cultural and other unofficial relations between the United States and Taiwan after Washington switched diplomatic recognition from Taipei to Beijing. The TRA also requires the U.S. "to provide Taiwan with arms of a defensive character."

Feulner also spoke with President Tsai Ing-wen (???) by phone earlier this month, when she was in Houston during a stopover on her way to Central America.

Yu was in Washington to attend Trump's inauguration on Friday. He was the head of a Taiwanese delegation that also comprised lawmakers and politicians of Taiwan's major parties, to offer congratulations to Trump and his vice president on behalf of the Taiwan government.

After attending the ceremony, Yu told reporters that it was impressive that former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who lost to Trump in the November election as the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, received a warm welcome from Trump's supporters when she arrived at his inauguration ceremony.

The U.S. is an old democracy and can always see a peaceful power transition despite fierce competition during election campaigns, Yu said, citing it as a good example for Taiwan.

He also urged China to learn from the U.S. experience and see the value of democracy.

On the issue of U.S.-Taiwan trade, he felt that both sides should focus on innovative industries.

He said that Taiwan should speed up efforts to negotiate a free trade agreement with the U.S. if Trump withdraws the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a regional trade deal for the Asia-Pacific region.

The Trump administration's "America First" foreign policy includes withdrawal from the TPP, according to information on the White House website.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel