"Good friend" Xi

Trump wants to protect Taiwan on one condition

Defense is only available for money, says Donald Trump.(Bild: AP/Steve Helber)

Donald Trump has announced that the fate of Taiwan would be of little concern to him as US President. He considers it unlikely that his "very good friend" Xi Jinping will actually attack the island. The Republican is now making demands of the government in Taipei.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is cautious with regard to US support for Taiwan in the event of a Chinese attack. "I think Taiwan should pay us for defense," the 78-year-old told Bloomberg Businessweek magazine.

"We are nothing more than an insurance company. Taiwan gives us nothing," said the ex-US president when asked whether he would defend Taiwan against China. China could simply attack Taiwan.

Trump on Xi: "Very good friend!" 
"But China doesn't want to do that because they don't want to lose all those chip factories," said the former US president. "If I were them, I wouldn't feel so confident right now, but remember, Taiwan took away our chip business, I mean, how stupid are we? They took away our entire chip business," the 78-year-old continued.

He described China's head of state Xi Jinping as a "very good friend". That had changed with the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.

Concerns about an invasion
The island republic of Taiwan, which is only separated from China by a strait, has had a democratic government for decades. However, Beijing regards Taiwan, with its more than 23 million inhabitants, as part of its territory. The area is repeatedly the scene of military demonstrations of power.

There are concerns that China could invade Taiwan like Russia did Ukraine. The United States is an ally of the democratic island republic.

According to the magazine, the interview was conducted on June 25 at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida - around two and a half weeks before the assassination attempt on Trump at a campaign event in the US state of Pennsylvania.