After U.S. President Donald Trump, following his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, described arms sales to Taiwan as a ‘bargaining chip,’ voices among opposition figures in Taiwan who advocate a conciliatory policy toward China have grown louder. Some are also asserting that it is no longer realistic to expect help from the United States.

On the 18th, the Taiwanese outlet United Daily News Network reported that Su Chi, former secretary-general of Taiwan’s National Security Council, said at a forum held the previous day that “we must abandon the expectation that the United States will come to our rescue.” Su served from 2008 to 2010 as the de facto control tower for foreign and security policy in the Kuomintang Ma Ying-jeou administration.

Su said, “There are three paths in the Chinese Communist Party’s Taiwan policy: cross-strait dialogue, U.S.-China dialogue, and unilateral actionincluding unification by force,” and assessed that “Xi has shifted his position from ‘opposition to independence’ to ‘promotion of unification’; the use of the word ‘peace’ in ‘peaceful unification’ has decreased; and the emphasis on ‘jointly promoting unification’ has disappeared, reducing Taiwan’s role.”

Su further assessed that “if even U.S.-China dialogue fails to produce results, China may ultimately be left with no option but unilateral action (against Taiwan).”

In Taiwan, anti-China sentiment spread in the wake of the 2019 Hong Kong pro-democracy protests, and the Democratic Progressive Party, which advocates a hardline policy toward China, has been in power since 2016. Figures aligned with the Kuomintang who advocate a conciliatory policy toward China are using the latest U.S.-China summit as an opportunity to continue their offensive against the DPP government.

The KMT-affiliated National Policy Research Foundation reported that in a poll of 1,075 adults conducted from the 11th to the 14th, responses saying they trust the United States (36.4%) were outnumbered by those saying they do not (41%). It also said support for ‘pro-U.S., anti-China’ (cooperate with the U.S. and respond harshly to China) at 23.5% was surpassed by support for ‘pro-U.S., reconcile with China’ (cooperate with the U.S. while improving relations with China) at 43.5%.

President Lai Ching-te moved to contain the fallout on the 17th via Facebook. He emphasized, “Taiwan is a sovereign, independent state. The Republic of China (Taiwan) and the People’s Republic of China (China) are not subordinate to each other.” He also said there is no reason to advocate independence because Taiwan is already a sovereign state.

He added, “We are grateful for President Trump’s support for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait since his first term,” while also saying, “Taiwan is a place where the core interests of the world are at stake, and actions that undermine peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait will deliver a significant shock to global supply chains and the world economy.”