TAIPEI (Reuters) -Taiwan should pay the U.S. for its defence as it does not give the country anything, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told Bloomberg Businessweek, sending shares of Taiwanese chip manufacturer TSMC lower on Wednesday. The United States is Taiwan's most important international supporter and arms supplier, but they have no formal defence agreement, unlike what Washington has with South Korea and Japan. The U.S. is, however, bound by law to provide Taiwan with the means to defend itself.
  • dogslayeggs@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1081·
    5 months ago

    Either he is so stupid he doesn’t understand why an independent Taiwan greatly benefits the U.S., or he doesn’t care about the U.S.'s interests and is just looking to sell out to China. I guess it could be both…

    • henfredemars@infosec.pubEnglish
      691·
      5 months ago

      Sell out. Definitely sell out. Too many extremely wealthy individuals have interests tied up in Chinese markets.

      As far as he’s concerned, do this, get money from “donor.” I don’t think there’s any thought going further than that.

      He has zero qualms with selling out the American people.

      • Avid Amoeba@lemmy.caEnglish
        8·
        5 months ago

        And I don’t think the CCP gives a shit about these investors anyway. Even if the CCP gets Taiwan it won’t necessarily prioritize foreign investors’ interests. The Chinese only need foreign direct investment - factories and the related know-how - not financial capital. And then one could argue they don’t even need much FDI either, outside of the high end semiconductors.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
      40·
      5 months ago

      He is extremely stupid regardless of what the agenda of the people around him is.

      In fact, he’s so extremely stupid that he just agrees with whoever flatters him the most. You can see it in real time sometimes.

  • zabadoh@ani.socialEnglish
    311·
    5 months ago

    Only most of the West’s computer chip fabrication plants, and supporting industries…

    I’m sure China will be happy to take those…

    Even if the engineers and technicians manage to flee before China invades, that’s a long way from establishing alternative supply chains elsewhere.