How will Donald Trump handle Taiwan? Beijing sees hawkish signs as analysts are divided

Analysts in the US are looking for signs of how the Donald Trump administration will shape policy on Taiwan, a potential flashpoint between the world’s two major powers, with opinions consistently divided over what direction the president-elect will take.

Some fear Trump could use the self-ruled island as a bargaining chip to seek economic concessions from Chinese leader Xi Jinping while others say a compromise with Beijing on Taiwan issues could generate strong political resistance Trump would never want.

“The Taiwan issue has always been so complicated that it’s never been an isolated issue and has always been a part of the US policy towards China,” according to Zhiqun Zhu, director of the China Institute at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania.

“It’s really difficult, almost impossible, to isolate the Taiwan issue from other strategic, military and economic issues,” said Zhu, a political scientist.

While Beijing has repeatedly described Taiwan as “the most core” of its core interests, it is not so for the US, “though it’s important”, Zhu explained at a recent discussion hosted by the Institute for China-America Studies, a Washington-based think tank.